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According to Love Meow, the founder of Friends for Life Rescue Network, Jacqueline DeAmor, was contacted about a little grey kitten with a cleft nose who was in need of critical care. Immediately, Jacqueline offered to help, driving four and a half hours to pick up the kitten. The tiny kitten, Bonsai, was born with a cleft nose and mouth, but he had a normal palate. She was smaller than the size of a palm at the time and was extremely vulnerable.
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Thankfully, Jacqueline did not give up on her. She was determined to save her no matter what challenges she may have. "Cleft nose babies often have other congenital defects so we will be monitoring for those as well," she explained.
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For the first few days, with around-the-clock care, Bonsai was stable. But then, suddenly, things took a turn for the worst, and she ended up deteriorating to the point of having to be placed in critical care again. "We believe she burped up formula in her sleep and accidentally aspirated. She ended up with pneumonia," Jacqueline said.
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Volunteers rushed to bring an oxygen concentrator to help the kitten breathe. "She slowly went from breathing heavily to calmly over the course of hours. Then, she started to hold her body stronger," Jacqueline added. "Finally, she showed interest in latching. We were able to stabilize her in an oxygen and incubator combo."
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With the help of volunteers and plenty of TLC, Bonsai managed to jump back. When she turned one week old, everyone celebrated, because everything, that milestone felt like an enormous achievement. Finally, she was eating properly. And also, she turned out to be a total love bug with a huge love for cuddling.
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"She is by far the sweetest little baby. After her milkies, we do lots of cuddles as it seems to help her burp while being pet. She loves to groom my face and hold my face with her paws," Jacqueline said. Bonsai may be small, but she purrs like a whole tractor. Whenever she is with her humans or finds soft things to knead on, she immediately starts purring.
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Currently, she's staying with a loving foster mom who cares for her and caters to every need she has. She is thriving - gaining weight and strength. She's walking around on her own four feet, exploring the world around her and "supervising" her humans when they're doing things around her. Whenever she's not wrapped in a blanket, purrito style, for intense cuddling, she's curled up in her humans' laps.
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Clearly, this little fighter is not willing to let anything slow her down, no matter how difficult her start to life might have been. She's growing, showing off her mullet, getting all the love she wants, and developing all the feline skills necessary for the moment she'll finally be ready to be adopted. For now, she's mostly just busy soaking up the love.
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