UPDATE: Grieving mother becomes the pawrent of a crusty 6-week-old street kitten, embarking on an epic journey of survival that saves both of them: ‘She was put on this earth for me to care for… She's my baby’

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Apr 4, 2025 4:00 AM EDT

In every cat lover's fantasy life, there's a little kitten who could—a feline in desperate need of hooman love and the odds stacked against them. We all believe with a little (or a lot) of TLC, we can help these kittens survive, but as many of us have experienced, that it not as easy as it sounds.

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  • I once had a job where I was surveying those electrical poles in the alley. Every day, I'd wander through the city streets, staring up into the sky at the telephone poles, assessing, getting readings, and checking off each location as I left. However, one day, my eyes wandered down, and at the base of the pole was a scraggly little figure—a kitten—abandoned and left to fend for himself in the alley. Besides myself with compassion, I scooped the meowzer up, canceled the rest of my work day, and spent the next few days by this kitten's side, hoping and praying that he'd find the strength to survive. 

    The woman in this next tale experienced what I did not, the joy of bringing an unlikely survivor back from the brink, and adding a new feline addition to the family, one cuddle session at a time.

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  • I saved this girl (or she saved me? I found this little crusty girl literally laying in a pile of dirt not moving. Her eyes were sealed shut because of her eye infection and she would not eat any food. Based off the size of her
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  • siblings and how active they were I knew she wouldn't last long if left outside. She was so small and acting so different than her siblings. I had also just had a miscarriage and felt a need/desire to be a mom. It felt like
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  • perfect timing. I decided to take her in and it was one of the hardest things I have done. First off, she would not eat. I had to force her to drink kitten formula. She weighed the amount of a two week old kitten even though vets
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  • estimated she was at least 6 weeks old if not older. She was so small... and she really did not want to eat. I would rub maple syrup on her gums so much and give her skin to skin until I was able to get her in to see a vet. I thought for
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  • sure every time I got up to feed her she would be gone. After that they gave us many meds and I had to give them to her every couple hours on top of the force feeding. She had a very bad URI, ulcers in both eyes, ringworm, fleas,
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  • and worms. I had to give her baths multiple times a week with a disgusting rotten egg smelling solution that ruined my jewelry to help get rid of her ring worm but we did it!! One of her eyes is still not fully healed, the vet says it is
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  • SENERGY NIPRO
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  • scarred, but other than that she is doing so good! She had some intense swelling after her spay surgery even though I kept her locked in a kitten play pen basically so she couldn't run or jump but she is all healed now. She is
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  • about 9 months old and was born right around the time I conceived the baby I miscarried and I really do feel like she was put on this earth for me to care for. She's my baby and she's so sweet. She can still be crazy at times but she gets better every day and shows me just how much she loves me. I know all
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  • those sleepless, stressful nights/days were worth it. She ended up being insane once she became healthy but I know kittens can be haha. Thankfully she has finally started mellowing out and everyone including my other cats love her now
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  • Also she refused to eat "mush" or any kind of wet food at all for so long. Couldn't even get her to drink kitten formula from a bottle willingly but one day I offered her a rib and she ate so much of it it was crazy!! Ever since then she looooves human food. Also
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  • just want to say I am aware of what is/isn't safe for cats to consume so I have been mindful but it's crazy to me cause none of my other cats have ever wanted to try human food for the most part. Always made me sad for them but she will try whatever I give her.
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  • Last thing is maybe two months or so after bringing her in, all four of my cats came down with an almost deadly illness. I did not let them near her because I knew she wasn't vaccinated and didn't know if she had any
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  • diseases or illnesses that would affect them. I kept her in a separate room and changed my clothes and all that before handling my other cats for several months. Somehow all four of my other cats got an insanely high fever. No URI
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  • symptoms but they refused to eat and had dangerously high fevers. I had to pay a couple thousand to save them and one was even hospitalized. I paid for a test to find out what the cause was but everything came back normal
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  • so I am still not sure what the cause was. I never let them outside or anything. But anyway, this whole journey has been very hard and u blame myself for a lot of it even though I really don't know any answers. I would do it all over again though
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  • because I know she would not have made it. It feels like she was meant to be part of our family though it was fate. I feel like the universe sent her in one of my greatest moments of need and she taught me how hard but rewarding true love can be.
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