A Christmas Kitty

As the volunteers were about to conclude their feeding rounds a few weeks back, they came across a tiny grey kitten in one of the factories. Slightly bigger than a palm, she was mewing pitifully for food, which they immediately gave. Imagine how hungry she had to be, to beg food from humans that she should be naturally wary of.

After seeing this tiny little grey kitten for two weeks consecutively, volunteers Val and Shiqing decided to prepare some cat food and milk for her in preparation for their next feeding round. However, to their utter disappointment, it was raining too heavily for them to make a trip down to find that poor kitten. It was only two weeks later, when the weather let up, that they managed to attempt to look for the kitten again. However, yet again, lady luck was not on their side. They could not find her despite much effort in combing the area. Refusing to give up, they asked the factory workers if they had seen a small grey kitten, but adding to their growing dismay, they were uncooperative and brushed away our questions with an unfeeling reply "all cats moved away already".

As they were standing outside the factory, feeling disheartened and extremely worried, Shiqing spotted a shadow of a kitten. Nudging Val delightedly and pointing excitedly, they found a little black kitten, even smaller than the grey one, which they named Cola. Even though they were unable to find the grey kitten, they were relieved to be able to save another. They had to call for the assistance of 2 other volunteers in the area, James and Crystal, as they did not have sufficient food on hand for the kitten. Due to Cola's small size, she was unable to cross the drain to get to them for food, and it was only when Shiqing crossed the drain to reach her did she notice what a pitiful state the kitty was in. She was whining pathetically in hunger and perhaps in pain and there was a lot of discharge in and around her eyes. Her eyes were almost glued shut.

We saw this tiny kitty while on our usual feeding rounds

Eating our food at the factory, living in poor conditions alone

They were all shocked and at a loss of what to do with Cola, as she was in a bad shape and they knew that no one in the factory would bother about a mere helpless kitten; thus placing her back would be akin to a death sentence. As they did not have any experience in rescuing cats, they had to call Fiona and Lisa for help. They discovered that Cola had fleas on her, and required a visit to the vet. As it was way past midnight, they were unable to find anyone to foster her temporarily. The volunteers had thought of putting her with some factories for the night but most factories had dogs and they were concerned for her safety. None of our volunteers could take her home as we either have dogs at home or our family members wouldn’t approve of it so we unanimously decided that the best and only alternative was to leave her in a carrier at someone's house for the night, until her vet visit the next day.

We put her into one of our feeding pails

This poor kitty had such a bad eye infection

She could hardly open her eyes

Sleeping soundly after we put her in a pail and covered her with a towel

So we waited till almost 2am for fellow volunteer, Annie, to bring a carrier down for Cola.

Safe in the carrier for the night

Early next morning, we took Cola to the vet for a health checkup and to find out what exactly was causing her eye discharge. We were told that Cola is a healthy, 6 weeks old female kitten, but due to the dirty environment she had to live in, she contracted an eye infection which resulted in the discharge. Cola was also infested with fleas.

She has been warded at the vet for the past few days and is due for discharge. However, despite it being a public holiday and the incurring extra costs, we requested for Cola to be admitted to treat her eye infection and flea infestation. All we want is the best for Cola - healthy and safe from the harsh conditions on the streets. She is just so tiny and vulnerable.

Cola is a very sweet baby kitten who craves for love and affection. If you can foster / adopt Cola and give her a home to call her own, please email us at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg

Thank you fellow volunteer, Annie, for bringing down the carrier for Cola in the wee hours of the morning.

Story written by Jamie Tan