Pumpkin...

On day 3 of our rescue I found Pumpkin. He is a beautiful 10 week old orange and white male with long hair and bright blue eyes. I had seen Pumpkin a few times before on the property, but I had never been able to get close to him. However, on this day I was walking the property to look for new litters of kittens and almost stepped on him. I expected him to jump up and run away from me thinking he had been sleeping and I had just startled him awake, but he just lay there and looked at me. His eyes were filled with pain. He couldn't get up and walk away from me. His belly was huge. About the size of a large grapefruit. Much too big for his frame to handle so his skeletal structure tried to accomidate it by splaying his ribs and warping his hips. We assumed he had worms and was perhaps dehydrated as there hadn't been any access to water for him until just the a couple of days before.

I scooped him up and brought him back to my mother's house. She gave him a bath and we picked as many of his fleas off as we could. Like the others, he was covered in them. We gave him some deworming medication and hoped that would cure him. He still had an appetite, but it soon became clear that his belly wasn't that big just because of the worms. He couldn't go to the bathroom. He was constipated from dehydration. In spite of this he would purr when we held him and had the most amazing and happy attitude in spite of his condition. He would lay on his back on the floor and play with the other smaller kittens. He also helped in their care by keeping faces clean after they had their bottles. This of course made us all the more determined to help him to live. You would have to meet Pumpkin in person to truly appreciate how special this guy is.

Over the next 24 hours we watched him carefully to see if he had a bowel movement hoping the worming medication would help to push things through him. We made his food very soupy because he didn't seem to understand that he needed to drink. NO LUCK. We called North Country Animal League to ask for help for him. All we got from that was "he would need to be seen by a vet". Of course if we had the resources all these guys would have seen a vet by this time. My mother, Michele, went to the Franklin County Humane Society (we are in Lamoille County, keep in mind) and Rusty consulted with their vet who suggested mineral oil and baby liquid enema. This did the trick! He started to go the next day and little by little his tummy started to go down. He will always have hip issues as he hops like a little bunny when he runs, but this only adds to his charm. Thank you Rusty, your help literally saved this beautiful little souls life. He may never be chosen for adoption as he is a special needs kitty, but he will always have a home with us if this is the case.

UPDATE.....09/24/2009- I am VERY happy to report that Pumpkin has made a FULL recovery!!!! Dr. Nate from Qi Veternary Clinic on Shelburne Road in S Burlington donated his services after hearing about Pumpkin.... He practices traditonal as well as Chinese medicine. He treated Pumpkin (as well as some other kittens with minor health issues) with some herbs. He also donated 20 DOSES OF REVOLUTION!enough to treat all the cats and kittens we had in our care. Pumpkin showed a difference in his "leaky butt" problem within 3 days and within a week was completly better..... not only that since his stomach went down his legs and hips straightened out and he is completly healthy and AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!!!! If you think you could provide him a WONDERFUL home and are in search of a WONDERFUL addition for your family, consider Pumpkin. THANK YOU DR. NATE!!!! THERE TRULY ARE WONDERFUL CARING PEOPLE OUT THERE!!!