The day before Simonne's birthday I had taken her to the local animal shelter to see the kittens like I have done a bunch of times before. Simonne is such an animal lover so she loves trips to the animal shelter in the past she has loved looking at all of the kittens there and never had a problem saying 'goodbye' to them all when it was time to leave. Except on this day Simonne only had eyes for this kitten, she wouldn't put him down the entire time or look at another cat despite him having a broken tail and being on the 'scrappy' side. She was hysterical crying when it was time to say good-bye.
So later that day, just after dinner, Greg started the bedtime routine and Jorn and I ran out to pick up that kitten! The next morning when Simonne woke up on her birthday there was a new little guy waiting for her. She was SO surprised. They are inseparable! I have honestly never seen anything like it.
Unfortunately, when I took Kimba to the vet for his first check up I got some terrible news. The vet said that he's not in such great shape and went as far as to say that 'he may not survive'. He also told me that he is deaf! I was shocked, devastated and sickened by the thought of Simonne having to deal with such a trauma. Kimba is on the skinny side and he does have a broken tail but otherwise he seems totally fine to me. He's eating well and pooping and peeing just fine. He is extremely social and uses the litter box etc. meaning that he seems completely functional. I don't really understand why the vet said this and when I asked him he just said, 'he just seems unwell'. I plan on taking him to another vet for a second opinion this week.
Since his vet appointment I have been watching what he eats, offering wet kitten food to bulk him up a bit and even went through a can of KMR (kitten milk replacer) all of which he gobbled up. Some things don't match up. The shelter said he is 12 weeks but there is simply no way. Greg and I have raised two litters of kittens and from our experience we would say it's unlikely that he is any more than 8 weeks old, yet the shelter had already neutered him. His shelter paperwork said he was 1lb 15oz two weeks ago but when he was weighed at the vet he was just over a 1lb. (I now have him back up to 1lb 12oz).
It's a stressful situation yet despite all of it's impossible to ignore the bond that he and Simonne have formed. It is just the sweetest thing ever! I am sure that his growth over the past week has just as much to do with the love he is getting now as it does with all the food we are offering. We all appreciate any love you can send Kimba's way as well too! Thanks so much.
