Not on my Watch: A Little Kitten's Struggle to Survive

WARNING: Graphic photo of belly wound, below. Please be forewarned and use your good judgement as to if you wish to look at it.

Hope sits quietly on a soft blanket in a cage at Sweetwater Creek Animal Hospital in Lithia Springs, Georgia. Once a city named after it's historic Mineral Water, now so small its' residents voted to dissolve the city charter in 2001 and essentially de-incorporate it. There weren't enough services to qualify Lithia Springs as being a city any longer. That this tiny town even has a good Vet is a very lucky thing for this four month old kitten.

Sometime about twelve days ago, something terrible happened to Hope. Only she and the people who harmed her, know what really happened. Anyone who sees her now, don't have to be psychics to know she was injured by an unspeakably cruel hand.

Hope's underweight body is curled tightly. Her front paws drawn inward, perhaps a way to protect the deep, ragged gashes on either side of her belly. Wounds so painful it's difficult for her to sit otherwise. The wounds, shocking and large are from a fish hook that gouged her from one side of her abdomen to the other—as if she were hung on the hook like a piece of bait. It was not enough to stop there, the hook also travelled into her left leg causing a serious infection.

While I don't know the details of how Hope came to Sweetwater, I know many people involved in her care were so moved by her good nature and her serious injury, that they had to find a way to help-instead of humanely euthanizing her. I was alerted to her situation a few days ago and I, too, could not look away from this humble creature and just assume someone else would help her out.

I don't want to torture myself or others, with the thoughts of how this cat must have suffered such pain. How the person or people who did this to her aren't human. They are pond scum. They are worse than that. For what sort of person could take a young animal, just learning about the world, just learning to trust and do that...jam a big hook into her belly, as if she had no feelings, as if she were garbage.

I emailed Cathy, my sole contact about Hope. She said no one was raising funds for her and thanks to a little push from our friend at CiCH, Izzy, I decided to just raise money for her myself, even though I don't know this Vet. I don't even know Cathy's last name. I had to look up Lithia Springs on the map. It didn't matter. A kitten needed help. I could do my little bit to make a difference.

Thanks to the generosity of MANY people from all over the country, so far I've raised $490 of my $600 goal. Hope may need much more than this, but it's a very good start.

You see, Hope may lose her left rear leg. As of today, though the swelling on it has gone down and she's responding to the antibiotics, she cannot stand on her own. Partly due to being weak, underweight, with serious belly wounds-how could she stand with even that? We simply don't know how she will do. We don't know if she will walk and maybe someday play again, but what we do know is the awful people who did this to her are far outshined by the good people who rescued her, who care for her and love her as she recovers.

The good news for Hope is that we will not need to find foster care for her. Her foster mama, who I hear is excellent in every way, can't wait for her to arrive-when she is well enough to do so. Should her leg have to go, Hope will still be as loved and still have a wonderful life ahead of her.

For now, we wait. We hope the antibiotics will continue to do their thing...that this little girl will pull through her ordeal and one day be able to stretch out and relax, no longer in pain, with those bad memories long behind her and only good ones to come.