WOOD CHIPPER CHEWS KITTEN

On June 20, 2006 a woman called to ask if I could help a skinny 8 week old kitten that had been sleeping inside a tree chipper (a machine that chews up tree branches and spits out the resulting mulch).

Not knowing that the kitten was sleeping inside the machine, a work crew had started it up – and out came the screaming, barely alive kitten.

Hi. I’m Maury Swee, President of The “10th Life” Sanctuary, Inc.

The caller asked if I could come get the kitten and take it to a vet. She had no transportation and could not afford a vet. It was 9 in the morning and the “accident” happened at 7. No one had done anything to help the kitten who had been writhing in pain.

I agreed to take the kitten. I didn’t believe her story (how could a really small kitten climb up into the hopper?). But, my objective was not to determine how it got there (was there abuse? did someone throw the kitten in?); the objective was to get the kitten to my vet as fast as possible. It took me almost an hour to get to the agreed upon meeting place (she didn’t want me to come to her house – we met at a nearby gas station). The poor kitten suffered another hour of pain as I rushed to meet the woman at the gas station.

With hardly a word to the woman, I grabbed the box she’d put the kitten in and headed to Dr. Zeitlin’s animal hospital in West Palm Beach. It was the longest 20 minute ride I’ve ever had. The kitten looked very bad and every few seconds it would scream in pain as it moved around.

There were obvious head wounds and the right front leg looked like it was broken in two places. The left front leg just dangled. The kitten’s head rolled around.

I hate traffic lights. Every one was red as I rushed to Dr. Z. I called ahead to let him know the situation and begged him to please be ready to examine this baby when I got there.

Tough decisions would have to be made in the next few minutes. It was going to be heart wrenching.

I prayed.

They saw me coming and had the door open. Dr. Z stopped what he was doing and rushed to the bloody box with the kitten in it. A quick glance at the cat and he started issuing orders to his staff... sedation and pain medication to quiet the cat so it could be carefully examined. Then x-rays.

To euthanize an animal is a very difficult decision for me. I don’t make it casually. I kept second guessing myself. This kitten was in such pain, with terrible injuries… Should I, or shouldn’t I?? Were the injuries treatable?

Dr. Z came back with the x-rays. The kitten’s neck was broken but its spinal cord appeared to be intact. Both front feet were broken in multiple places. One leg might have to be amputated. The head had severe wounds and the right eye didn’t seem to be functioning.

IF we could mend the feet, how would the neck heal? Would the baby be able to walk, eat, poop??? Could it have any kind of normal life? If it needed special, life-long care, who would take this kitten and provide it?

We have a number of disabled cats at our sanctuary and I know, first hand, that these cats don’t know they have problems. They think they are normal – they play and eat and act just like the other cats. They may walk a little differently, but that’s “normal” for them.

Would this injured cat survive the next hour? Would it make it? Could it be treated? Would the cat have a decent quality of life, if treated? If the neck healed, could the cat function on its own? Unknown answers as we looked at the x-rays.

Dr. Zeitlin’s advice was to keep him sedated and pain free, treat for shock, start medications and give the little guy 24 hours – and see what happens.

And that’s what we did. We named him “Chipper.”

It’s been almost 2 weeks. He’s had several surgeries to repair his broken legs. His right eye is beginning to function, he sits up and tries to stand up, he’s beginning to hold up his head, and he can eat on his own -- he makes a mess, but he’s learning how to do it! And, he purrs when you hold him.

He’s a fighter – determined to live! We want to give him every possible chance to make it on his own.

He needs more surgery – and more time to heal.

CHIPPER UPDATE #1: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (July 4,5,6, 2006)

Tuesday, Chipper was eating on his own and able to sit up.

Wednesday morning, when he saw me, he stood up and walked over to me, purring, begging for food! Almost made me cry with joy.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Zeitlin called me and told me that Chipper had suffered a minor seizure and he was concerned. Dr. Z told me what he was doing for him, but frankly, I was not listening, too overcome with emotion.

Early Thursday, I spoke with Dr. Zeitlin for an update. Chipper was continuing to have seizures and was non-responsive, though alive. Dr. Z was going to take more x-rays, draw blood and run more tests – with results coming back on Friday. I checked on his condition throughout the day and again at 5PM – essentially, no change. Chipper was tube-fed and given his medications.

There are several things that may be causing the seizures. As you may know, kittens heal very fast and it could be that the wound/fracture on Chipper’s head may have been growing back too quickly and causing pressure on his (possibly still swollen) brain.

Because we don’t know very much about his background, he could have a disease that presents itself with seizures. We know he is very friendly, not feral, and could have been brought up in someone’s house – increasing the likelihood that he was disease free before he got outside and into that tree chipper.

We just don’t know where he lived during the first 8 weeks of his life.

But, we also know that, if he was born outside to a feral mom, the statistics say that such kittens only stand a 50% chance of making it to 6 months of age. And, he may be a product of inbreeding and his genes are not letting his immune system fight off the problem that is causing the seizures.

The prognosis is neither good, nor bad. I’ve seen kittens (and adults) recover from these types of setbacks. I know it sounds ominous, but our fears are coming from not knowing what is happening, not from knowing what is causing the problem. Hopefully, we’ll know what is going on tomorrow.

I have ultimate trust in Dr. Zeitlin’s ability to do the best that can be done. And I know he is doing it.

All we can do at this time is to pray for Chipper.

CHIPPER UPDATE #2: Friday-Saturday Morning (July 7,8, 2006)

He is truly a miracle baby!

Thursday Chipper was having seizures and was barely alive. Friday, he was almost back to his “normal” self…

When I saw him around 4:30PM Friday he was busy grooming himself and said, “Don’t bother me, I’m busy!” He definitely did not want to be interrupted.

JOY – the only way I can describe my feelings.

All the tests came back negative so we still don’t know happened to him on Thursday. He is definitely not out of the woods. He will have good days and bad days. When I saw him Friday afternoon he still had a few deficits from his ordeal with the seizures. These deficits were not there on Wednesday.

We hope they will return to “normal.”

I haven’t seen him today (Saturday), but Dr. Zeitlin tells me he is doing fine and eating well. We expect him to continue getting better.

I wish I had a photo of him grooming himself. When I saw him he was wrapped in a fluffy towel, his right foot up in the air, and his tongue busy “washing” his injured leg...

He’ll get better. We just need to give him time – and more prayers.

CHIPPER UPDATE #3: Late Saturday Afternoon (July 8, 2006)

I'm so sad to inform you that Chipper died late this afternoon.

He died of an undetected infection in his brain.

Chipper was buried at our sanctuary.