Rescued Kitten Reunited With Sister After Beating Life-Threatening Odds By Pulling Out His Own Eye

Cats in feral colonies are often tough creatures, even the young ones. Sometimes kittens are so formidable in their approach to living a normal life, they do the most astonishing things.

In early August, Adam, a cargo pilot by trade, had just landed on Maui in the small hours of the morning after flights fetching mail and parcels from Hawaii's other islands. Upon landing, he checked the Good Cat Network Facebook page, his and his wife's cat rescue effort, and saw a picture of a kitten someone had posted located near the airport.

Posted by Alex Lemieux

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"He had a horrible, infected eye, Adam said. "He was in dire straits." Unfortunately, the kitten's eye was in such a bad condition it had "nearly fallen out of his head," he explained. Adam didn't even want followers of the Facebook page to see the kitten's condition, so he contacted the person who posted it to take it down because he was only minutes away from rescuing the kitten. Adam named the struggling kitten Pepe because he resembled the cartoon Skunk "Pepe Le Pew" due to the white stripe running down his back. However, Pepe was initially tough to see; his condition was "horrific."

Via Good Cat Network
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After transporting him to the emergency veterinary clinic, doctors said Pepe was in bad shape and most likely needed surgery. Regardless, he was too young at barely six weeks old and weighing less than a pound. However, days later, Pepe's right eye was getting much worse, and Adam called the veterinarian and emphasized the kitten needed emergency surgery, even though it was a high-risk situation.

Via Good Cat Network
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When the veterinarian came out to meet Adam and Pepe to do a quick assessment before the surgery, Pepe knew something was up. After glancing at the veterinarian and then back at Adam, Pepe put his paw up to his eye and "plucked his own eye out right in front of us," Adam illustrated.

Via Good Cat Network
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"It was ready to come out on its own," the two agreed. Given that Pepe wasn't bleeding afterward, and that's essentially what the surgery would have accomplished, Pepe was sent home to begin a battery of antibiotics and other medications. Later testing on cultures taken from Pepe's other eye indicates he suffered from a secondary pathogen after a bout with Feline HerpesVirus (FHV).

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In their first few months together, Adam said Pepe would often wake him and his wife Amber up in the middle of the night to nurse. Though, it's on Amber's neck and not on a bottle. Although the instances are "sweet," they said, the couple had to shut him out going forward so they could get some rest. "He was probably taken away from his mom too soon," Adam explained. Nevertheless, since his life-threatening ordeal, Pepe is now well over three pounds and thriving with a familial playmate.

Via Good Cat Network
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Not long after Pepe was found, other cat rescuers on the island caught Pepe's sister. They were living in a storm drain near Kanaha Beach Park, which is next to the airport. Fortunately, the couple decided to adopt Pepe's sister to add to their growing family, and a testament to how the Good Cat Network saves kittens in the most challenging of circumstances.

Via Good Cat Network