Rose and Bud (Adopted Together)

Rose, a young pregnant stray, came to me on January 25, 2023. She was extremely malnourished and had delivered one kitten at the Lancaster Animal Shelter but failed to deliver the rest of the litter. We immediately took her to our sponsor vet at Sun City Animal Hospital. The vet took x-rays and confirmed there were more kittens, but offered little hope they were still alive. During the C-section, the vet and the staff were amazed to find three live kittens. But all of the kittens, including the one born naturally, were severely compromised and weighed 70 grams or less. Three of the four passed away in the first 10 days. Only Bud, one of the male kittens delivered by C-section, survived.

Rose, of course, was so malnourished that she was not lactating. And Bud would not latch to a bottle nipple, so he needed a combination of tube feeding and syringe feeding for a couple of weeks. All of the kittens had oxygenation issues, which manifested in their extremities. Bud’s only extremity issue was a lack of blood flow to the end of his tail, which Rose eventually bit off while she was washing him and disposed of. And now Bud has a healthy, adorable but stumpy tail. 

Rose was understandably anxious, but she was very affectionate to those she trusted and showed no aggressive behaviors at all, and she loved to be pet. We had an early offer to adopt Bud, but waited for them to be adopted together.