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Writings
by Other Folks
Three
Little Girls
Margaret
A. Miller, 09/21/03
When
you walk into the GCHS Adoption Center, you’ll see all sorts of animals
ready to come home with you and give you love.
There are dogs and cats of all different sizes and shapes and at
different stages in their lives. You
might see an elderly dog with cataracts as well as rambunctious puppies;
aged cats that would love a soft, sunny place to nap all day and kittens
that want to pounce on your shoelaces.
The one thing these homeless souls have in common is that they’re
all healthy. The GCHS doesn’t want you to adopt animals that aren’t
healthy: it’s not fair to the people adopting them, and it’s not fair
to the animals themselves.
However,
getting an animal to that point of health where they’re ready to be go
to their forever home (perhaps yours?) can be a long, expensive and
heart-breaking road. Every
year, we see an overflow of kittens.
They are rarely ever cute and cuddly.
Most are malnourished and skinny, and there are some who are so
weak and ill they don’t survive. This
year, GCHS took in a litter of kittens that was unlike any we’ve ever
seen. People who were moving
into their new home were surprised to find kittens in the basement, the
mother nowhere in sight. These babies were lying in a pool of water and oil, too
little to move very far themselves, completely dependent upon others for
survival. They were so hungry
that they were sucking on each other, creating wounds that cost the two
little males their lives. As
I write this, I can remember how terrible they smelled (their coats, ears
and eyes were matted with their own diarrhea), and how I held them to my
heart willing myself not to be repulsed, thinking, “they don’t even
look like kittens, what am I going to do?”
It took
several veterinary visits and many, many hours of loving care by
volunteers to nurse them to health. The
little ones had to fight for their lives every day for the first few
weeks. What remains out of
that litter are three little girls who will soon be ready for adoption. They are finally out of the danger zone and eating like
there’s no tomorrow! Here’s
a little introduction to the three cuties:
The littlest girl, “Halle” is pure white
with a dark mark on her head that makes her look like she’s wearing a
beret. Her big, dark,
beautiful eyes stand out on her white body.
It is amazing that she’s here with us today because she was on
her way out at a very sick 4 ounces.
She probably had less than an hour left when Dr. Lind revived her
with fluids.
The middle girl, “Sheena” is a very
pretty, delicate gray-black tiger. Early
on, she was healthier than the little white girl, but we almost lost her
when an infection took hold in her lungs and brought her near death within
just a couple of hours. She
was revived in an oxygen tent and had to be on strong antibiotics for
three weeks.
The biggest girl, “Gracie” is a gorgeous,
loud-colored calico. She
should be in pictures. It
took us a week to get her cleaned up to the point where we saw she had
pretty white feet. Now that
all of her nutritional needs have been met, she is more interested in
playing than anything else, but isn’t that the point?
By all
accounts, these little girls shouldn’t have survived.
They have seen enough suffering to last the rest of their
lifetimes. However, their
spirits are not broken, and each one will make someone or some family a
wonderful friend. They could
not be more loving.
The
GCHS won’t turn away cases like these, but they are costly. These little girls would not have made it if they hadn’t
had supportive veterinary care several times.
It would have been very easy to put these little creatures to
sleep, but the GCHS believes that every life has value, and they all
should be given a chance. That
is why we are a no-kill shelter. But
we can’t save lives without your support.
It is our hope that, with your generous donations, you’ll
continue to support us as we work towards eliminating animal suffering.
Also, please come and see the three little girls when they’re
ready to make their debut!
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