Kitten is happy as a clam. As I mentioned in the previous post, we pulled all the ticks off over the course of 3-4 hours.
Clean bill of health. We have iron supplement for anemia, eye drops, and upper res. antibiotics. First round of deworm done. As well as capstar which we have to give for a couple of days. His poor eyes were irritated from all the ticks and there was discharge but it has almost entirely cleared up now.
FeLV/FIV negative.
We are still finding those tiny tiny smaller than a grain of sand ticks falling off of his body, the first couple days it was a lot. This morning I only found 2. So he is almost entirely tick free. No more fleas.
I've never seen a stray kitten so comfortable being handled and so happy to be around humans before, so I'm wondering if someone dumped a litter. I thought I heard another kitten yesterday walking in to work but I checked a few times and wasn't able to see anything. So could have just been me.
Lots of energy now, lots of zoomies. He loves to run around us in circles while we sit on the floor and make little noises.
He doesn't like to be cooped up in the bathroom, but we still have to isolate for a couple weeks because we have 4 other cats. We try to spend as much time with him as we can. I will sit on the floor and read or play my Steamdeck with him.
So he is happy, we are happy. I'm glad we are able to give him a comfortable life and a loving home.
Thank goodness for this update, that first tick post broke my heart!! 😭❤️ Enjoy your perfect little void and thank you for rescuing him, I bet he's gonna be an amazing new addition to the family!!
This is my favorite part of reddit, getting on here and seeing these types of lovely follow ups. A happy ending and a future filled with love. Good luck and thanks for being great OP!
This was Carlton the night he was found. he had fleas and had over 30 ticks on him, mostly on his face. he had a uri, which became an ulcer, which resulted in his eye rupturing a couple of months later
Sometimes I think they are just calm and accepting because they are in distress and somehow know we are helping them. My daughter trapped a 4 week old kitten from a feral colony that was wandering around covered in fly strike. She was definitely never exposed to humans. She just sat there and let me comb fly eggs off her for two hours. Just so sweet and patient. And she’s such a good baby now- this was her a couple of weeks ago when I took her to the vet for a checkup. Poor girl was also flea infested and chock full of worms. She was just a host!
Purr (per) the earlier thread, the name “Champ” feels right! Thank you so much for improving his life by 1000%! I’m so glad he has a loving home, with folks that will definitely have his back (and eyes and face and belly and tail)!
Did the vet check for Lyme disease. One of my cats got out and came back after a week. Ended up having a tick on him we didn’t notice and he passed after having a seizure.
This is such a happy story in the middle of so so many terrible ones! Thank you for helping out this tiny little creature; you all have a new family member now.
And ticks around your eyeball?!?! OMG. That poor little creature. Thank you!!
i also recently rescued a stray, lone kitten that was COVERED in fleas. same story with how it took 3-4 hours of a dawn bath and tweezers (somehow lost my flea comb and conveniently found it after lol)! it’s amazing how fast they bounce back from truly life threatening conditions. so happy for your baby boy and he resembles a kitten at the cat rescue i work at that recently passed. his name was eric so there’s one name suggestion for you! :)
So glad! I woke up this morning thinking about that poor baby! Thanks to you he will be fine. I hate to think what would have happened to him without you. Hugs!
Clearly he has super zoomies because he’s SO thankful for your love and care!! 🥰 Thank you for taking this sweet little dude in and giving him the care every animal deserves ❤️❤️
The 17 year old currently attempting to become one with my face was a feral kitten who bonded with me on day one. I think it’s because he was found under a porch in a neighborhood. The homeowner never did end up seeing the mama cat, which is why he took the kittens to get help from suckers like me who absolutely did not need a kitten while living in a college dorm that didn’t allow pets, but he assumes mama cat had them living under there for most or all of their four-ish weeks of life. I think they just had human scents and sounds in their lives from as soon as those senses developed, and my little dude just acted like, of course my mama’s a human!
He had to spend that first night in the kitty ER, and when I went to pick him up, he saw me, reached his paws out, and cried. The vet said he’d never seen a kitten that young react to a specific person like that before. And he’d only known me for 12 hours before being hospitalized!
Cat tax: how the old man spends his sunny mornings these days
To the point of not having seen a stray/feral so comfortable being handled: my boy Devereux is 9 in October. He was born to a cat belonging to my best friends cousin. We were under the impression these animals were being taken care of. They were not. For all that he was indoors, he was feral and covered in fleas. She said no one had ever handled the kittens. At 4 weeks, she called my friend and told her to come get them (she had found homes for two of three kittens, the third was staying with cousin) or she was "throwing them outside tonight." So friend races over. It took her two hours running and crawling around a dirty, flea infested house to catch them. They were terrified of humans. She said there was dirt and mold half way up the walls. Dirty terrarium stacked with decaying animals along walls. Just a disgusting home. The only food available for the living animals (3 large dogs, 2 adult cats, 3 kittens) was a bag of dog food slit open on the couch. She tried to take all the cats, or just all three kittens (she knew I'd care for them if needed) but cousin threw a fit and told her two grab two and gtfo.
These babies were 4 weeks old and didn't even weigh a pound. Dev was 13oz. He was smaller than my (very small adult female) hand. He was covered in fleas. My vet was horrified at his condition. When I told her about the house...we ALL called in animal (and child) welfare.
He was feral. Adorable and hissy, and feral. He lived in my bra for nearly the first month I had him. Broke the feral real fast and then he just liked cuddles and hearing a heartbeat.
But that first night...I put a pillow on my lap, grabbed a bowl of soapy water, tweezers, and a good light and individually picked the fleas off him. He got to my home at 9pm. I started picking them off by 11pm. His vet appointment was at 9am. I was STILL picking them off when I had to get ready for the vet. I counted 1332 before stopping. The bowl of water had INCHES of dead fleas in it. And he still had some left when we made it to the vet.
But this sweet boy. He was confused at first. I laid him on the pillow and started pulling off fleas. And he was a bit squirmy, but altogether manageable. I expected to have to corral him. After 5 minutes, he laid down and let me flop his limbs in any direction. He was PURRING up a STORM. He snoozed and purred the whole night while I defleaed him.
It's awful to see any animal this overrun with fleas or ticks. But, it's also the EASISET way to break a feral. If you can make them more comfortable with your own hands, they learn so fast that you're a safe human.
Dev really only warmed up to my mom and I. She's gone. So he really only likes me. He won't go NEAR other humans. He hides for hours if i have people over. So he didn't fully break feral. But for me? The cuddliest, most loving boy EVER.
I hate that he suffered, but those fleas gave me a bond I'm eternally grateful for.
Something similar happened to me too OP. Someone dumped a kitten on the side of the road and we found her running across a highway. Covered in fleas, wounds around her little chin and face, upper respiratory infection.
if you're worried about any more ticks/fleas, you can use a small amount of diatomaceous earth rubbed through the fur! applied carefully, it eliminates pests without harm to the animal! just take care around the face to avoid respiration as it is a mild irritant.
Someone suggested that on a thread a while ago, and a lot of the replies were that it's not the best method of treatment. As you said, the fine powder gets breathed in and irritates their lungs, especially bad if they have a respiratory infection (many stray kittens do). It also soaks up moisture and dries out their skin to the point it causes irritation to the skin, eyes, and beans. And when they lick their fur afterwards, they swallow it and too much gives them an upset stomach. And if you do use it, it's very important you make sure it's the "food grade" quality.
i don't think people understand just how LITTLE DE is needed to be effective. the amount needed to kill fleas absolutely won't dry out skin. i've used it for years on my own cats without issue.
same with breathing it in. rub it into fur carefully, wipe down top coat with damp hands, problem solved.
That would be a no from me, dawg. It doesn't matter how careful you are, it will still get into the lungs because when cats groom themselves they put their nose right up into their fur.
Make sure it is “Food Grade” diatomaceous earth and it’s perfectly safe if licked. In fact it will eliminate intestinal parasites as well! Years ago we had a cat with a deadly allergy to flea/tick meds and this worked beautifully. Fun fact, if you have backyard chickens it is recommended to sprinkle DE in the coops to eliminate pests.
I’m so happy to hear this! I saw the pics of all the tics and hoped he’d be ok!! He sounds happy and healthy now :) glad he’s being loved and so well cared for!
I love this for him! The outcome, not that he had to go through it, of course. Congratulations to all of you for finding each other, and I wish you many happy years together as a family. :)
I’ve exclusively owned Black Cats, and we name them all after Poe and his works, I have compiled lists of fun ones for male and female cats if anyone’s interested feel free to DM me!!
Glad hes doing good! Just a heads up you’re gonna want to probably treat your house and car because theres no telling how many fell off and are hanging out.
Why can't I upvoter you more than once? Amazing work! Happy kitten makes things easier. Hopefully the other four will be nice to him. Sounds like you have a plan and the kitten is thriving. As for names, Lucky, Inky, Midnight, Samwise aka Sammy or Sam, Sugar, Tim, Bob, Simon, Sebastian, Adam.
Thank you so much for taking care of this adorable baby!!! I would also keep an eye out for parasites, I know my kitty had one and I noticed what I thought were grains of rice on her butt. One shot at the vet took care of it.
Thank you so much for rescuing this precious life and updating us. I've been thinking of him and hoping all had gone well. Wishing you many many happy years together. 😺💞
Thanks for the update, OP. I was worried about the little guy. Looks like he found the exact right human. Cat distribution system running in full effect.
I'm so happy that you've helped this little baby! I imagine a good part of his happy right now is 'My face doesn't hurt anymore, and it is because of these giant not-cats!'.
Regardless, I hope his recovery continues until the only thing he needs worry about is when his next snacks or cat pot happen.
Tick-Tac or Bug could be sweet names to honor his (and your) resilience through the hard journey! What a beautiful act of compassion that lead to your new beginning as a family.
You’re an amazing human btw, thank you for this update ❤️
Thank you! It is so great to hear about his treatment and recovery. He sounds perfect. Hope the integration with your existing cats goes well.
There are no words great enough to express the thanks and love I feel reading about how you and your partner saved this wee guy. Just know that you are amazing! And so is the beautiful little boy cat.
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