Watching surroundings gives kitten a second chance

How many of you, when driving, truly see your surroundings?

I am one of those who usually has a grasp on what is happening around me and will often notice things some others might not.

I’m glad I do that, too.

I work in two different places – one is pretty much Monday/Thursday/Friday, with the other on Tuesday and Wednesday. To get to the one place that I head to three times a week, I take a back road as it’s quicker. It’s not rare, by any means, to see wild animals – deer, chipmunks, squirrels etc. – on this road.

And, sometimes, you’ll see them as road kill.

As I scooted to work on Monday, I came up to what looked like a dead animal in the opposite lane. As I went by, I looked down and saw a white patch of fur and movement and my head said … was that a kitten?

Another half-mile down the road and I couldn’t stop thinking, so I turned around and went back. As I slowly went by, sure enough, it was a kitten. And it was moving – slightly. So I pulled ahead of it and got out to look at it.

It was soaked. It moved, slightly. It couldn’t be that old. A week? Two weeks? Maybe? I saw a little blood on its nose. My heart was totally torn with this. I tried to find the number to the local humane society and they are closed on Monday. So I called the local animal hospital, who I’ve dealt with most of my life.

They asked if I could bring it in. Of course I could. At this point, because there was somebody near it, the kitten was mewing.

All this time, at least 5-7 cars and one dump truck passed by. I couldn’t imagine how many vehicles swerved around this kitten, or even straddled it. The poor thing.

In my car, I had a softball jersey and a towel. I wrapped the kitten in each, put it on the front seat and I was off.

I rubbed it a little through the towel and it was a constant mew for most of the ride. After a few miles, the kitten perked up a little and was moving around a little. It had blood on its nose (and I saw when I dropped it off at the animal hospital that its nose was scratched up), but it was dried off and in good hands when I left it with the people at the hospital.

It was heartbreaking to see the kitten with a scratched up face, but it was nice to see it climbing and showing some life.

I could only imagine what it had been like for it to be out on that road. It had been raining, too, so it was in the rain. It had to have been fully terrified.

I don’t know how it got there and I don’t really want to know. I don’t want to think somebody may have thrown this (and maybe others) out a window. Or that a mama cat gave birth somewhere in the woods and left this one behind.

In the end, I could have been like many other people who likely drove past this kitten – or I could have been looking ahead and not seen it. I also could have been heartless and just left it there and continued to work like I had never seen it.

But if I had done that, I never could have lived with myself.

I’m not some crazed-up animal rights person by any means. But I like animals and think they should be treated right. And I have a heart when it comes to thing like this. So I’m glad I turned around and glad I have a job at a place where I could take this kitten to get the help it needed, rather than ignore it. I’m also glad it was on a Monday and not one of the days I am elsewhere as who knows what would have happened.

UPDATE: I talked with the animal hospital and the kitten showed improvement through the first day, and then into the second day. Sounds like one of its hind legs is injured and there’s a chance it can’t see out of one of its eyes. It is, however, friendly and vocal. There hasn’t been much eating, but some. So here’s hoping it gets better.

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