Nursing a Kitten Back to Health: The Story of Short-tailed Small Kuting

Short-tailed Small Kuting. Jep | Flickr

When Stubby Tail, one of our neighborhood’s community cats, gave birth in the garden, one kitten immediately stood out. She bore her mother’s distinct trait - a shortened tail - but unlike Stubby Tail’s stub, hers was just unusually short. I don’t usually give the outside cats proper names; instead, we call them by descriptive monikers like Noisy Cat (the territorial tom from next door, mortal enemy of our beloved Marmalade), Bisita Cat (once a frequent indoor visitor), and a handful of orange cats all bearing the generic moniker Kuya Orange. Naturally, this tiny kitten became Short-tailed Small Kuting. 

Our helper took a shine to her and started bringing her inside the kitchen, offering her a bowl of kibble and fresh water especially for her. Before long, she became a morning fixture - waiting by the door, ready to be spoiled. And spoiled she was - playful, well-fed, and delightfully chonky.

Then came the unfortunate incident.

One rainy day, while heading out for errands at the nearby mall, we heard a faint meow when we were halfway to the subdivision gate, not distressed, just a soft and singular meow. Concerned that a cat may have hitched a ride, I searched the car, including underneath, but found nothing. The rain intensified, and we chalked it up to a neighborhood cat that happened to pass by.

After hours at the pharmacy and grocery, we returned home under relentless downpour. As I fetched my water flask from the car, I heard that meow again, this time, unmistakably familiar. To my dismay, Short-tailed Small Kuting was seen all muddy and crawling using only her forelegs. I rushed her inside, cleaned her up, and checked her injuries. Bruised but alert, she seemed generally okay except for the troubling paralysis in her hind legs. My finances couldn’t stretch to emergency vet bills at this time (still recovering from a family medical ordeal), so I gently settled her into a mesh pet carrier for now and vowed to nurse her back to health.

Diary of Recovery

**June 16**  

Bought her small pet diapers - they’re still too big. She’s getting restless in the carrier, sometimes escaping and roaming the kitchen. She won’t eat on her own, but she’s surprisingly active. Blended kibble with wet food for syringe feeding. Used hooman adult diapers as carrier liners (leftover from when my mom was hospitalized). She’s passing urine, which is encouraging, but I’m still cautiously monitoring for signs of poop.

**June 23**  

During our nightly feeding (she finished all 5 x 10ml syringes worth of food!), I temporarily placed her on the floor to move about, just using her forelegs, when she went straight for the pail of water near the sink and drank to her heart's content. It's good to see her drink on her own!

**June 24**  

Major milestone! While prepping her morning slurry (blended chicken, tuna, boiled squash), she leaned toward the container and started eating on her own. I let her eat at her heart's content. And before she was done, she surprised me yet again when I peeked inside her tiny diaper. There was a thumb-sized poop on its way out! This is the first time that I truly felt hopeful for her recovery. Feeding her and seeing her pee (albeit uncontrollably) was well and good, but it was absolutely crucial to see her be able to poo. I was tempering my expectations all this time.

**June 25**  

She escaped her carrier! The bag was made out of a clear plastic side with faux leather and nylon mesh for ventilation. She somehow learned how zippers work and could now open the side zipper whenever she felt like it. One time, I even managed to leave the screen door of the kitchen unlocked, and she went all the way out and hid behind a slab of wood. Good thing the other outside cats snitched and showed me where she was. I was so worried! She has now been relocated to the pet crate. Those are sturdier, being designed for pet air travel. 

The Escape and Reunion

**July 6**  

Missing kitten! I have asked our helper to thoroughly clean the cat carrier where Short-tailed Small Kuting was sleeping, so she temporarily relocated her outside to the bigger dog enclosure (which we temporarily used when our dogs were just puppies). What she didn't know is that the side door doesn't close properly since the puppies routinely escape from there. She somehow also managed to escape and wander off. We searched all over, even the immediate surroundings of the house. We are starting to fear that she wandered off into the streets. 

**July 10**  

Gotcha! After parking the car in the garage, I heard a faint meow coming from the back of the house. It was very faint, but I had a feeling that it was familiar. It was already dark out, so I brought out some portable lights to search for that sound. True enough, it was indeed Short-tailed Small Kuting curled up in some old plastic crates in the middle of a bunch of banana plants. It was not easy getting to where she was, and there were a lot of mosquitoes buzzing near my ear, but I managed to get to her finally. She looked ok, but her lower legs were all scraped up and looked inflamed. When I brought her back inside, she drank a lot of water. She also exhibited the tell-tale signs of dehydration (skin pinch test). I gave her wet food mixed in with some Nutripet Gel (nutritionally and calorie-dense paste with added vitamins) to hasten her recovery. 

Operation: Fat Kitty

**July 15**  

I'm in the process of fattening up both Short-tailed Small Kuting and Smol Car. I have established this nightly routine where I routinely give both kittens vitamin supplements with some wet food to entice them.

Nightly routine:

• Change absorbent pads that I use to line the cat carrier.
• Small wet food pouch mixed with a half-inch of Nutripet gel and 0.3 ml LC-Vit syrup (Lysine, Vitamin C, and other vitamins). Mixed with a packet of Churu if she was an especially good girl for the day.
• Now that she can eat on her own, dry kibble in a bowl is offered near her enclosure with some water.
• Cleaning of lower extremities with 0.2% chlorhexidine spray solution and wiping down with a moist towelette. 
• I found it easier to just frequently change out the absorbent pads instead of trying to get her to wear those pet diapers. She always seems to find a way to wiggle her way out of those.

Waning Appetite

**July 20**  

I am starting to worry about her lack of appetite. She would eat a small amount of kibble and churu mixed with vitamins. She typically finishes off the Churu, but lately, she would just sniff it and take a few licks before retreating to the pet carrier.

**July 21**  

I am getting more worried about Short-tailed Small Kuting. She has stopped eating kibble on her own and just drinks water. I have started giving her pureed wet cat food with some of the nutrient gel and vitamin syrup added in via the oral syringe, just like last time. She has not pooped the entire day, but I did notice that her diaper was fully soaked from urine. I only managed to give her 10ml worth of the pureed food orally. She didn't seem weak since she protested vigorously with the syringe feeding. She did feel unusually cold. She tolerated the routine cleaning and diaper change. As I was giving her a moist towel bath, I kept on telling her that I hope she fully recovers, but if she thinks things are too much to bear, that it is also fine to cross the rainbow bridge when she is ready. I told her that she would finally be able to run free like she used to and that all my past pets will be there welcoming her, like Kuya Kitkat, Kuya Nougat, Ate Marzipan, and all of her relatives in the neighborhood who have crossed on.

Goodbye, Brave Little Fighter

**July 22**  

I have a very sad update. I checked on her right after I woke up this morning and found that she had passed sometime last night. She looked like she was just sleeping, still in her diapers, looking peacefully asleep. My emotions are a tangled mess about her passing - sadness, relief, gratitude. Of course, I feel sad that she is no longer with us, but at the same time, I feel a bit relieved that she is now at rest. I feel grateful that she was part of my life, however briefly. I'd like to imagine her being able to run again, fully restored to her former health and playfulness, somewhere beyond the Rainbow Bridge.