The Rescued Kitten

Chapter Three

Layla had to go home to get ready for her swimming lesson but she made Edie promise to call her later. “I still can’t believe we found her,” she murmured, as she backed reluctantly out of Edie’s kitchen. “You will tell me what happens, won’t you? I’ll be home by six.”

“I promise,” Edie agreed. “We’d never have got her untangled from the wire without your scissors. She’s your rescued kitten, too.” She waved to Layla and hurried back into the kitchen. The kitten was snuggled into the towel that Edie’s mum had put on the floor of the box, covering the hot-water bottle. Edie’s mum had dressed her cut leg, and the bandage looked huge on her tiny paw.

“I’ve got that bear you can heat up in the microwave like a hot-water bottle,” Edie suggested. “Shall I get it? The bottle isn’t covering the whole box. There’s a cold bit on one side.”

Edie’s mum shook her head. “No, that’s good. She’s too little for her body to warm up or cool down by itself, so the box needs a warm side and a cooler one. Once she’s feeling warmer she’ll move herself away from the hot-water bottle. Hopefully, anyway.” She was watching the kitten, frowning a little as the tiny creature lay slumped on the towel.

“Can’t we give her some milk?” Edie asked. “Wouldn’t that make her feel better?”

Her mum nodded. “It would. I just want to wait a little bit – she’s so floppy, I think she’s still cold. If she’s been under that hedge for a while, she’ll have lost all her body heat. Ah, look… I think she’s rousing.”

The kitten was still flopped on the towel but she’d raised her head and had turned towards the sound of Edie’s mum’s voice. She definitely looked more awake. And this time, when she tried to mew, she managed to make a noise. A definite, hungry little meow.

“OK!” Edie’s mum laughed. “Let’s see if we can get some milk into her.” She picked up the box of milk powder and a little feeding bottle that she’d found in the cupboard. “This is kitten milk – it’s meant to be like her mum’s milk, it has all the right nutrients. If she’s five weeks old, she should still be feeding from her mum. She’ll be starting to eat solid food as well, but we’ll stick with milk for now.”

She spooned milk powder into the bottle and added warm water, stirring it around.

“That isn’t very much,” Edie pointed out.

“I know – but she may not want to take it. And we can always make more. Later on we’ll weigh her, so we know exactly how much milk she should have but let’s see what she thinks of the bottle first. Some kittens don’t really like bottles, it probably feels a bit weird.”

Edie watched anxiously as her mum lifted the kitten out of the box.

“You sit down,” her mum suggested. “We’ll put her on your knee and I’ll hold the bottle.” She laid the kitten on Edie’s lap, stretched out on her front so she looked like a furry ginger frog. Then she tickled the kitten under her little white chin and laughed when the kitten stretched her head up. “That’s it, sweetie pie. Here. What’s this?” Very gently, Mum squeezed the bottle so a little milk dribbled out on to the kitten’s neon-pink nose and dripped into her mouth.

The kitten blinked and then a darker pink tongue lapped out and licked the milk. She lifted up a paw eagerly, as if she was trying to grab the bottle, and Edie giggled in relief. She definitely liked the milk! Surely that was a good sign?

“Here you go,” Edie’s mum murmured, pushing the bottle’s teat carefully into the kitten’s tiny mouth. “Try that.”

The kitten wasn’t very good at it. She kept pawing at the bottle and accidentally pulling the teat out of her mouth, and she looked very grumpy about the whole thing, as though the milk just wasn’t happening fast enough.

“Is she trying to hold on to the bottle?” Edie asked. She was still giggling. Even though she knew that she should be worried about the kitten’s cut neck and paw, and Mum had said that the kitten was too tiny to be away from her mother, she couldn’t help it. The kitten was just so funny.

“No, I think she’s doing that because it’s what she’d do to her mother if she was feeding from her. Kittens knead at their mum’s teats to make the milk come faster.”

“So she’s trying to get it to come out of the bottle quicker! Greedy,” Edie told the kitten, running one finger lightly down the fur on her back. It was the first time she’d stroked her, she realized. She loved stroking cats, but she’d been so busy rescuing this one, she hadn’t given her even a little stroke till now.

“Once we’ve fed her, we need to clean up her wounds,” Edie’s mum said, gently moving the fur around the kitten’s cut neck. “Actually, you know what, Edie, you hold the bottle. I’ll clean them up while she’s busy with the milk and then hopefully she won’t be upset about what I’m doing.”

Edie watched worriedly as her mum got cotton wool and warm water, and started to clean the cut on her neck. Surely it would hurt? But the kitten only twitched a little and went back to chewing on the bottle of milk.

“Does it need stitches?” Edie asked.

“No, we’ll be OK with glue… I think there’s some of that in the kitchen cupboard, too…” Edie’s mum grinned at her. “I know, I know. There’s enough for a surgery in those cupboards. But it’s useful stuff to have around. Just lift her up a minute, I want to pour on some antiseptic and you don’t want it all down you, too.” She whisked another towel under the kitten and then poured antiseptic wash all over her neck.

“Aww, her fur’s gone all spiky!”

“Yes, and you can see how little she really is,” her mum said grimly. “Without all that fluffy fur.”

“But she is drinking the milk, Mum. That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“Mmm.”

“What are you two doing?”

Edie jumped as her dad appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Must be something exciting, you didn’t even hear me come in!” He leaned over to look. “Oh, where did this come from?” He looked around as if he expected to find a few more kittens scattered around the kitchen.

“I found her, Dad! Me and Layla rescued her! She was stuck on some barbed wire. She’s really little. Mum thinks she’s only about five weeks old.” Edie looked up at him excitedly and then frowned. Her mum and dad were giving each other a Look. Not a good look. “What?” she asked worriedly.

“She’s very tiny, Edie love.”

“I know. Mum said. But at least she’s eating.”

“Yeah…” Her dad sighed. “OK. Yes, that’s good. But … kittens do just fade sometimes, if they’ve had a bad start. Don’t look at me like that, Edie, I’m not trying to be mean. I just don’t want you falling in love with a gorgeous kitten and then being heartbroken.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Edie said, a bit crossly. It was all very well Mum and Dad both going on and on about how little and fragile the kitten was. Did they think she should have just left her stuck on that wire? “And I had to bring her home! Now isn’t this the best possible house for a sick kitten to be in? She’s got two vets to help her!”

“OK, OK.” Edie’s mum hugged her carefully so as not to disturb the kitten. “Of course we’re not saying you shouldn’t have rescued her. We just don’t want you to be upset…”

“If something happens to her…” Edie’s voice wobbled a bit. “If something happens … of course I’ll be upset. But at least I’ll know I tried!”