When he was born he was in a litter of 5 kittens. Tiny was 1/2 the size of the other kittens and near death. Chelsea, our animal saver extraordinaire rushed him to the vet (without our even knowing about it) and got special food and lots of advice on how to care for this kitten. However, the vet did tell her "Don't get your hopes up. This kitten is so small and sickly, that I doubt he's going to make it, but I'm proud of you for wanting to try." Well, obviously the vet didn't know Chelsea very well. Chelsea was out there feeding that kitten 4 times a day and then as he started to get older, he was still not strong enough to eat dry food so she fed him canned.
Slowly, but surely, Tiny grew. He was still small for his age, so last Fall I agreed to let Tiny live in the kennel office with the other office cat (who was not amused by this decision) over the winter to help him get even stronger.
He was so sweet and affectionate. I was constantly reminding him "You're a cat, you're supposed to be aloof". When you'd hold Tiny, he would put his paws on your cheeks and either give you kisses or he'd nuzzle your face. As long as he was near you, he was happy.
Of course, he did have his ornery kitten side too. Most mornings I'd come in to the office to find my pens and pencils scattered all over the office floor. or he'd knock retail things off the shelves.
As Spring finally arrived, Tiny was allowed to go back outside. We had him neutered over the winter, so we weren't concerned with him trying to fight our other males, since they are all neutered too. He LOVED it outside. He'd play with the other cats and run around, but he was also ready to go back inside to see the other office cat, whom he was now buddies with.
Three nights ago, Tiny was determined to go out, which meant he'd be out overnight. Not unusual, as he did do that from time to time. However, the next morning he wasn't waiting by the office door to go in, which was unusual. By lunchtime I still hadn't see him, so I knew something was wrong. About an hour later we found Tiny laying by a tree in our yard. I thought he was sleeping and I was going to playfully tease him for scaring me like that. However, I soon realized that he wasn't sleeping...he had died.
I slowly turned him over to see if I could figure out what happened, and there were no outward signs of a fight or of being hit by a car. However, when I took Ringo in for his appt later that day I talked with the vet about it and she said it is possible for a cat to get hit by a car and it injures them internally, and you don't notice anything outside. She also did say that given Tiny's rough start, it's possible he had health issues relating to his extra small size at birth and that they finally caught up with him. I guess we'll never know what happened.
What I do know is that Chelsea is so heart broken. She had worked so hard to save Tiny and had done a great job with him. She has a compassion for animals that is amazing. I know that when she finishes college and begins her career with animals, those are going to be some lucky animals.
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