Magical Kitten Bush in 2024

Ive written about the event we have at the clinic twice a year; Farm Cat Frenzy.
I love this program SO much.
$50 neuters, $60 spays. Each cat is sterilized and vaccinated for rabies. The only catch is; they have to be stray cats / farm cats / not house cats and, because they arent pets, the owner doesnt get any documentation of sterilization or vaccination. The females are tattooed to signify the are spayed.

Anywho!
There is a reason we do this. Excluding the obvious, there are SO SO SO many feral cats running around. Im sorry, but I do not like the idea of “farm cats”. They are not taken care of and when they do get sick and the farmer notices, we get “ugh, you cant just give me meds for the cat? Its JUST a farm cat.” Nope, bring the creature in so we can evaluate it. 9 times out of 10 the ailment is much more intensive than “just antibiotics” will fix.

It doesnt matter how many FCF’s we hold, there are still wildcats that dont get brought in. Either they are over looked or people just dont care about them. They wander around town, reproduce, get sick, or worse.

We are dealing with a fresh batch of wild kittens right now.
The oddity?
They are all from the same area; the bush at The Big White Bank.
We have had a couple of people bring in a few of the kittens. Luckily the clients either foster or adopt the kittens.
That makes me happy.
Usually they nurse them back to health, sterilize them, then find a home for them if they are fostering. These people have a special place in my heart.

Last week. one of our regular cat people, brought in one of the kittens. This man is AMAZING! He has 3 or 4 inside cats and several outside ones that he tends to. Im talking about, he JUST took one of the outside ones to K-State for an ear infection. Those visits START at two grand. Thats just walking through the door. Hes an old school, long hair, Chuck wearing, business owning, hippie. He and his wife are the nicest people.

He came in holding a milk crate with a 5 gallon bucket, upside down, inside it.
-Him, smiling sheepishly: Hey.
-Me, seeing the rig, stomach dropping: Hey man.
-Him: So, I found something by the library.
-Me, its a bird, a squirrel, a snake: Whatcha got?
-Him: I found this little critter, its a kitten. He was running in and out of traffic. He cant see and hes acting very confused. Sorry about the rig, but it took two of us to catch him and get him out of traffic.
-Me: Oh, no!! Hes alive? What would you like us to do?
-Him, shoving the crate at me: Fix him. I cant take anymore cats. I cant. But if you can fix him, I will find him a home. Ill pay for you to fix him. If you have to euthanize him, that ok, but I really hope you dont have to.

I take the crate and put him in the pharmacy.
I get my doctor and we gather around, not knowing what to expect from a wild kitten.
Suiting up in full cat protection, closing the doors, and taking a deep breath, my doctors says, “Well, here we go.”

She lifts the bucket up and we find…the smallest, cutest little kitten. Maybe about 5 weeks old.

This photo was taken after we cleaned his eyes up. His poor little eyes (and nose) were completely covered with scabs. The doctor looked at his eyes and noticed the left had a pretty bad ulcer but was hoping, with some antibiotics and eye drops, that the eye wouldnt rupture.

Yall, this kitten was so sweet. From the moment we picked him up, he started purring and he didnt stop. Even when we were scrubbing his eyes and pealing them apart.

He made it through the weekend.
Monday morning, his left eye ruptured. I found him with liquid and puss running out of the corner of his eye.
The guy that brought him in actually stopped by that morning. The Dr talked to him and explained what happened. He agreed to pay for the enucleation (taking the eye) and, because we found him a home, he also agreed to neutering him.
This man, yall, he is amazing.

The next morning we took the eye....and his tiny little testicles.

Too bad about the eye, but on the brightside, he has probably never been able to see out of it. Hes so young that he will never even miss it.

So I mentioned that we found this little guy a home? The other tech (who hates cats) fell in love with him and has taken him home.
Meet....Stevie!!!

One day post surgery. His poor little cheek is so swollen.
Im glad she took him.

Thursday, Im sitting at the front desk when the door opens and a regular comes in with a hoodie in his arms.
“Im such a softie,” he says.
You guessed it; another kitten.

This is before I cleaned him up.
His eyes are just like Stevies were when he came in.

With a little hot water:

The doctor looked at him today. His left eye is one huge ulcer and his right has a small one. Hes a lot weaker than Stevie was. I know he has 5 more days in the elements than Stevie, but hopefully we can get him stronger.
Itll be a lot of work, but we can do it.

I wonder how many more the magical kitten bush will gift us with?