Lucky is the brother of Peanut Butter and Stubby. He was a feral kitten and he is the only cat here today that still acts feral in a lot of ways. His story is sad, but with a happy ending.
Hubby and I first saw these feral kittens when I began feeding their momma on the porch. I looked out the kitchen window one day and saw three of the cutest furballs following their momma. They were about five weeks old and so tiny. Their hair was about three inches long and they looked so darn cute with all that hair dragging the ground with little bitty blue eyes shining through all that fur! There were two orangies and one black/gray. I yelled for hubby to come look. Aren't they the most precious things? His comment was something like..."Oh no!":p
They were very scared of us so I continued to put out food and watch them through the window for several weeks. Then I started putting out canned food and I would sit on the porch until they couldn't stand it anymore and had to come eat while I was there. I began talking to them constantly. They finally got used to me and would come onto the porch when we were outside. We couldn't get very close but at least they weren't terrified of us anymore.
I fed them regularly and they were always there for the meal. One morning the little black one wasn't there. He didn't show up for two days and I thought for sure he was dead. I went out to feed one evening and I heard a strange noise in the bushs. I thought the cats had injured a bird and I went to check on it but instead found the black kitten laying on his side and flopping like a fish out of water. He was trying to flop to the food!:( I went running to hubby crying like a baby. I told him that we had to catch the baby but we had to be very careful. I was afraid he had been hit by a car and had a broken back.
We watched him for a few minutes and he mangaed to get to his feet. His back was kind of arched and all four legs were stiff as boards. It was like they wouldn't bend. He looked like a little stiff racoon. He did manage to eat but when he started to leave we knew we had to catch him quickly.
This turned out to be a lot harder than one might think. He would flop around, get on his feet and run, fall and flop some more. The neighbors daughter saw the rucus and came to help us catch him. I was so afraid that we would do more damage that I told them to back off. I ran in the house to get a blanket to throw over him. By the time I got back outside he was on his feet and following his momma. He was crying his head off and she kept walking away from him. He was walking so stiff and trying to catch up to her. She never looked back and left him struggling to catch her. That image has never left me because it broke my heart right in half! He disappeared into a wooded area and we could not find him.
I cried every night thinking about him. I knew we had scared him so bad that he probably was too terrified to come back and would lay out there and starve to death or be killed by a wandering dog. It just made me sick to think about it.
Being the tough little survivor that he is he made it back to the porch three days later. This time I did everything very cautiously. I put out a blanket and he liked to lay on it. I began to work on building the trust. I would sit on the porch every night for hours and just talk to him. He seemed to like the stories that I told him and would climb onto his blanket when he saw me coming. I had to stay about six feet away but he would listen and nap while I talked. My butt was numb, my legs were stiff and my throat got sore, but I wouldn't move for hours.
Hubby and I discussed the fact that he was not going to survive if we didn't get him in. He couldn't climb a tree, he couldn't run, and he was going to have to be fixed or his hormones were going to kick in and a Tom would probably kill him. I guess I should say that I discussed and hubby (with head hanging down) listened.
So phase 2 began! I enlisted the help of Leroy. I would prop the door open and let Leroy come out and play with the youngsters. They really liked him (naturally) and would follow him around. Mostly little Lucky would just watch him. One day curiousity got the better of Lucky and he followed Leroy into the house. I shut the door and he went nuts!
This is Lucky when he was still outside.
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So now he was in but he was not happy about it! I couldn't get anywhere near him so we just let him be. I began to see him building his strength. He found the stairs and his first big adventure was to make it to the top. It was a struggle but he did it! You could tell he was so proud. He began his own physical therapy by tackling the stairs many times a day. Soon he was running up them full speed! Up and down, up and down, every day. Over and over he did this until he was strong and well muscled. I was so proud of his determination!
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He lived in this house for 18 months before I was ever able to lay a hand on him. He loved to eat! One night he was so excited while I was fixing their dinner that he accidently started rubbing on my leg. I reached down and scratched that magic spot right above the tail and the little fella fell over!!! He wanted to run so bad but it felt so good he couldn't move! :D Now that I had found the "spot" I continued doing that every chance I got and eventually was able to pet him. Finally got him off to the vet and fixed and couldn't touch him again for many more months!
He is VERY camera shy and still a bit of a scaredy cat.
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We never were able to determine what happened to him. I don't know if it was car or if he got that disease (Jan, what is the name of it!?) I can't remember but anyway he shows signs of that being a possibility.
He still walks kind of humpbacked and stiff but he doesn't let that slow him down any. He walks like an elephant and you can hear him walking, even on the carpet. He walks very heavy and he is not at all graceful! He appears to have some vision issues as well. Its as if he has to struggle sometimes to see things clearly.
We don't have many photos because he is really afraid of the camera. I try not to traumatize him too much with the flash.
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For those of you who have heard this story before I apologize for the repeat. I'm also sorry that it is so long but I condensed as much as I could.
I think Lucky's story is important because it shows the strength and endurance of these amazing creatures.
Please remember folks that when all this happened I had never dealt with ferals before. I didn't know we had a wonderful no kill shelter that would have helped me, and I had never heard of PT! I would do things differently today but at that time I did the best that I knew how to do. Thankfully it worked out!
Today Lucky jumps into my lap for lovins and then moves on to his daddy's chair for some more. He seems happy and well adjusted. He struggles with some things but he has overcome most all of his problems.
We love and admire him. He taught me a lot about strength. He is one tough kitty and I guess I don't need to explain how he got his name!;)
That's our Lucky boy!
