A little kitten was in a desperate situation. She had burn marks on her lower body, and she was dragging her legs. Catsnip etc, a volunteer Trap-Neuter-Return organization based in Elkhart County, Indiana, received a tip about a mother cat with kittens from a potential barn placement they were looking into. They visited the neighbors who expressed interest in TNR and were introduced to the mother cat and her litter of kittens. It was during this visit that they saw the injured kitten and knew they had to help, and fast!

Soon after, the volunteers were greeted with an adorable bunch of kittens, but unfortunately, they noticed that one of them was struggling with urine scalds and feces crust around its rear end, as well as dragging its back legs. Although the mother cat was doing her best to care for the kitten, the volunteers knew that they needed to intervene and treat the kitten’s redness and soreness. One of the volunteers named Kacy shared that when they were shown the kittens, they immediately noticed the little one with paralyzed back legs and decided to scoop it up for examination, even though they were unsure of its gender due to some swelling in the area.

The volunteers were given permission by the owners to bring all five kittens back to the rescue, which made the owners happy. Upon settling in, the paralyzed kitten was weighed and found to be a mere nine ounces, despite being 5-6 weeks old. Despite her size, she had a healthy appetite and quickly started eating wet food and kMR slurry. A foster Mom was found for the kitten, with one of the volunteers, Kacy, volunteering to take care of her. The kitten was given the name Dumpling and was soon in the loving care of her foster home.

I feel incredibly grateful that the barn, where I was assisting in placing cats for @catsnipetc, informed me about their neighbor’s willingness to discuss TNR. As a result, I was able to take the cat home and foster her. Dumpling’s foster parent, Kacy, expressed that she doubted Dumpling would have made it much longer outside.

The following day, Dumpling was brought to a vet and was diagnosed with some minor reflexive movement in her back legs. The priority at that time was to alleviate the redness around her rear, which was likely causing her a lot of discomfort. Fortunately, over the next several days, Dumpling made progress in terms of regaining her health, with kMR and a special wet food mixture being among her most favorite meal options.

It has been nearly 14 days since we saved little Dumpling, who weighed only 1lb and 3 ounces at that time. As of now, she is moving around the house on her makeshift diaper and causing chaos by gnawing at the paper towel roll and attempting to get into all sorts of trouble.

Dumpling has been making remarkable progress ever since. She has been gaining weight steadily and relishing the luxurious life to the core. According to Kacy, Dumpling still adores her kitten milk, chews on everything she can get her paws on, observes the larger felines from her cozy studio apartment, and battles the infamous paper towel monster.

Dumpling’s life took a turn for the better when she was three months old. Her foster home became her forever home, thanks to Kacy and her partner who believed Dumpling completed their family puzzle. The tire shop workers were startled to see a tiny black and white kitten hobbling around. The poor thing seemed hungry and scared, and its fur was covered in dirt and oil from the machines. To add to its misery, fleas had infested its body. It’s been almost a month since the feline was discovered by the kind-hearted employees of the Robstown-based tire shop.

The tiny feline was limping, signaling that his paw was hurt. Initially, the guys were uncertain about how to handle the situation. However, they eventually caught him and provided shelter in the workshop throughout the night. The team supposed that he might have been tossed out of a vehicle or inadvertently stowed away under a vehicle’s hood.

Zamora was taken to a shelter by a kind volunteer as she had been exposed to excessive elements. The volunteer started a rigorous treatment plan to help her recover. This included therapeutic baths to get rid of fleas, providing a healthy diet and administering vitamins and medication. After the initial days of treatment, it seemed like baby Zamora’s mood had improved.

Although we were optimistic about a smooth journey, we faced an unexpected obstacle. Soon after, the vets identified an infection in the kitten’s shoulder injury and began treating it with antibiotics to relieve the pus-filled swelling.