i was in the kitchen yesterday and saw lily out of the corner of my eye, trailing something, prancing because she was so proud of her catch. my first thought was the animal spring toy she likes to grab hold of (the end is a tail) and walk away with until the spring can go no further and snaps back into place. but the toy hangs on a doorknob in the hall. couldn't be that. when i saw what it was, i was doubled over with laughter for a good 5 minutes.
but before i go further into it, you gotta know the story of lily - and why this was so hilarious. i found lily for adoption on petfinder in march. she and her mama had been rescued from a high kill shelter. she was slated to be spayed the end of march and then could be adopted. then she got sick, and wouldn't eat. she lost weight - not something she could afford to do since she was so small. her spay would have to be postponed as she needed to weigh 2# and she had gone down to 14 oz. her foster mom said she would give us back the deposit so we could find another cat. we decided to wait and got frequent updates on her health. it didn't look good a few times for lily. when she was well enough, we got to meet her. man, she was TINY! a true lilliputian. she weighed 18 oz. she curled up in my arms and instantly started to purr. then it was ed's turn - she crawled up on his shoulder and nestled in. we were sold - in love. we'd wait.
finally, she did gain enough weight to be spayed- she was 13 weeks and weighed all of 2#. we brought her home just a few days later. she was so so tiny i was afraid i'd step on her or the other cats would beat her up - they were none too pleased with this new addition. then she got sick again. took her to the vet, she got a shot, got better, then sick again - back to the vet. the poor thing had had so many anti-biotics in her short little life the vet was concerned. she would just lay on ed's chair and sleep, with her head back and her mouth open so she could breathe.
in time, she started getting better again and slowly gained a little more weight. then, she had a run-in. with the wall. had a HUGE knot on her forehead. back to the vet. seems she had a kitty concussion, looked like she had broken her nose. this kitten was going through her lives fast.
since the other cats wouldn't play with her and we didn't want her to grow up basically alone with no loving from other cats, we decided to get another kitten. what's one more? enter cato. choosing his name was so easy - he was just too much like his namesake. this guy is rambunctious, never-ending mischief, constantly jumping down on the other cats. the energizer kitty. poor lily wanted to play with him so badly but had gotten sick again. she would just lay around, sleep, watch, wheeze. i wondered if our lilliputian would ever be able to play like a normal kitten - she reminded me of a kid stuck in a wheelchair, wanting so badly to play ball but couldn't. she was feisty, though. when she did play, she played hard. she just tired so very quickly. and slept hard.
by this time, i had found out she probably had feline herpes - an upper respiratory infection (which apparently is common in cats - about 70% of cats have it). so i did what any granola mama-holistic person would do - looked into natural remedies and found that l-lysine was very helpful. easy to do, mix a little in her food. but she'd need it daily and it would take a while to take effect. so she'd get better, she'd relapse. little by little her breathing became easier.
just in the past few weeks has lily really blossomed. it's so fun to see her bounding around, jumping up, getting stronger. she's nearly 9 months old and weighs just over 8# - and is making up for lost time. she's recently found the *cool* stuff in the bathroom! loves to play in the tub after we've showered or in a trickle of water from the tap.
and...
maybe you had to be there. but it was hilarious - believe me. now i wonder if i hadn't been in the kitchen if the whole house would have been toilet papered.
