Bonfire Night Kitten Bounces Back
Three-month-old Bunny was in a bad way when a member of the public discovered her hiding out in their garden on Bonfire Night.
She couldn’t stop shaking in fear as she was so frightened by the loud noises. The finder kindly kept her safe overnight, before getting in touch with Serena, from our community outreach team, the next morning. When she called round to the finder’s house, Serena was shocked to find Bunny severely underweight, dehydrated and very hungry. The vulnerable kitten nestled her little head into Serena’s chest when wrapped in a towel to keep warm. We scanned her but couldn’t find who she belonged to. So, Bunny came to Woodgreen as an emergency because we were concerned about her welfare.
Our Cat and Veterinary teams jumped into action as soon as Bunny arrived at Woodgreen. She was given a full health check, where our vets discovered this tiny tortie had lots going on! Bunny was dangerously underweight, with a body condition score of one out of nine – the lowest on the scale! A healthy body score is a four or five. As she was seriously dehydrated, we gave her plenty of fluids to build up her strength. We don’t know how long she’d been wandering alone outside, but because of her condition, it’s likely she hadn’t eaten for quite some time.
Poor Bunny’s eyes were infected so we prescribed soothing drops. We also found sore patches on the roof of her mouth. This can sometimes point to cat flu, so our Veterinary team decided to monitor it. Bunny went home with Bev from our Cat team to recover in comfort from her ordeal. Bev fed her feline guest high-quality food little and often to help her safely gain weight. This meant we could increase Bunny’s weight gradually without shocking her system.
Bev said: “She was a little wary to start with, especially when I was moving about in her foster room. Once I sat down, she would come straight over to me, sit on my lap, purr and ‘paddy paw’. She just liked to be always on us.”
After a few days she became more confident and discovered her playful side, like any typical kitten! Bunny’s eye infection cleared and she gained some weight – it was heartwarming to see her enjoying her food so much after all she’d been through. Then, Bev noticed her foster kitten kept sneezing, had a stuffy nose and eye discharge, so we knew for certain Bunny had cat flu. Getting on top of cat flu often takes time, so we kept a close eye on her while she had treatment to manage the symptoms. It wasn’t long before Bunny found a loving new home to call her own, where she’s continuing to thrive!
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