Bebe the kitten was having the worst day of her life when she arrived at the shelter: Someone shot her in the back with a BB gun and left her outside the front door. She was in pain and unable to move her back legs. It was absolutely heartbreaking.
We made her as comfortable as we could and sent her to a neurologist. Her prognosis was uncertain. We’d have to wait and see if she regained use of her back legs, and the ability to urinate on her own. In the meantime she had to go to a foster home so her bladder could be manually expressed. It was a big ask, but thankfully, two of our amazing fosters, Jessie and Jo-ie were up to the task. Here’s their story:
“Bebe came to us with a sad story: a kitten, shot with a BB-gun between her shoulder blades, with no mobility in her back legs and requiring her bladder to be expressed every few hours. While we had all this information, you can never really be prepared when you hear a story like this.
Even through her trauma, she was like any other kitten. She wanted to eat, play, and receive pets. She purred and trusted us. She was sassy when we expressed her bladder, and best of all, her legs kicked out. Bebe even showed that she was capable of going to the bathroom by herself early on, taking herself to the litter box and trying.
The toughest part ended up being keeping her on strict rest. She desired attention and playtime, but we had to be mindful of her restrictions. Eventually, Bebe grew stronger and stronger. She began walking around, she started using the litter box completely by herself, and she even surprised us by jumping to climb over the panels we had to keep her restricted.
With each day, each week, she grew stronger. She socialized with our cats, and she joined Jessie at work at Media City Animal Hospital, where people fell in love with her. She became an unofficial mascot over there, and that’s where she met her adopter.
Now, Bebe is recovered, as much as possible, with the ability to walk and run around, albeit with a limp, but she’s gotten a second chance at life.”
We’d like to say a big thank you our donors who made Bebe’s special care possible. We also want to say thank you to VCA Animal Specialty Group for Bebe’s neurological consults, Media City Animal Hospital for being Bebe’s home away from home, and a *tremendous* thank you for Jessie and Jo-ie for fostering Bebe through our Kitten Foster Program. Thank you all so much for saving this sweet girl and giving her a second chance!
