As a former Vet Tech for over 10 years, I can attest to some pretty awful things people put their animals through. I always found it terrible that people could throw their pets away so easily; they are supposed to be family members. Luckily, there are also plenty of good people in the world. The following is a story about two kittens, abandoned in a box in the snow on the side of a rural road, told by the kitties’ rescuer’s daughter, Tarah.
“My dad came home after work and told me he found a box with two kittens in it. I didn’t prepare myself for what we found.”
“He told me he found a box with two kittens after getting a complaint in this particular area about the roads being blocked with snow. We returned after work to see if the kittens had been picked up. This is what we saw.”
“To give you some perspective, the next two pictures show you the two views from the road where the cats were found. There’s literally nothing out here. No houses. No traffic. The only reason these cats were found is because my dad was driving by.”
“We noticed that the box was placed under some branches. Presumably to keep the top on.”
“The box itself is white, you can barely see it from the road.”
“When I peaked in, my heart broke. This kitten is obviously very sick and cold.”
“There’s two dishes of food with a blanket.”
“We picked up the box and brought the cats to our home.”
“If you separate them, they meow continuously until they’re reunited. They’re terrified without each other.”
“Unfortunately the cat at the front of the box looks very sick. He’s full of poop, smells like urine, and has gunk around his eyes and nose.”
“So we gave them a bath! When they are wet, you can see how malnourished they are. They’re extremely skinny. They don’t really seem to know what to do with the tiny bowl of kitten food we put down.”
“So we wrapped them up and supplied them with body heat. Already we can see them perking up.”
“They are honestly the sweetest cats I’ve seen, and I have seen a lot of cats. This one curled up on my lap when I sat in the room with it.”
“She keeps rubbing up against anyone who will let her. She keeps purring like crazy.”
“Her friend is still pretty sick. We’re going to be taking them to the vets ASAP.”
“For now we’re supplying them with body heat and love!”
“I gave the kitties some food and they devoured it! The sick one started to retain its own heat and perked up a bit. When I woke up this morning they were both sneezing. We called the vet and got an appointment for 10:20AM.”
“Here they are at the vet’s inside their cat carrier.”
“This is Sick Kitty (temporary name, Sick Kitty isn’t a very good one) weighing only 2.9 lbs.”
“This is the healthier cat weighing in at 3.1lbs.” The vet told us that the socialization window for a cat is 6-9 weeks, and after that they will start to get skittish and scared of humans. She says it’s likely that they’ve been around humans lately because of how sweet they are. Some people have suggested that maybe the box is a survival box, put out for feral cats in the area. The cats were probably abandoned and found the box with the food in it for shelter.”
“Unfortunately, Sick Kitty will probably have to get part of her tail amputated. The vet found a wound and says the end of the tail is cold and limp. We’re to keep an eye on it in case it starts to turn black or smell (and it does have a slight stench), in which case it’s a trip to the vet (which she says will be discounted 50% off).
Antibiotics, probiotics, painkillers, and dewormer were prescribed for their woes. They are two male cats (not female like I had suspected). In total it came to around $200.00 which Reddit helped me to pay for. “
I am so happy that these two boys found a great home! They deserve to be loved and taken care of. If only there were more people like Tarah and her father in this world! I am still disgusted that someone could just abandon these two kitties like that.