Not the Option We Wanted

He didn’t even get two weeks. No kitten deserves to be brought into this world to stay for only a short time. Jon should have had years to enjoy his life as a healthy cat, knowing nothing but safety and the love from the people who considered him family.

Jon was just a couple days old when he was found on June 29, shortly after his mother was hit by a car and killed. His was another unfair beginning. The SNUGGLE Pet Rescue Foster Care volunteers do an amazing job of caring for these youngsters, but they can never completely take the place of a kitten’s mother.

Last night Jon finished off his entire bottle like a champ. He did the same thing at his 2 am feeding. However, when he was offered his 8 am bottle he showed less of an interest in drinking the formula. Initially our volunteer was not worried. It was when Jon started to meow, which almost sounded like crying, that his caregiver knew what to do. She secured him in his carrier and rushed him to the vet.

A fecal test was done and the results set off a response that devastated the person who had been nurturing Jon since June 29. “Not another one,” was her immediate response.

Kittens as young as Jon can’t receive vaccinations to protect them from Panleuk, making the options to help him extremely limited. Our vet knows what our team has been going through the past couple of weeks so he said he would give Jon convenia, which is an antibiotic that remains in the system for two weeks. Apart from the injection there was nothing left to do but to take Jon home, make him comfortable and hope for the best.

Two hours later Jon began crying again. This time the wailing came in waves like contractions woman experience during labor. Suddenly he could no longer stand, and he was laying on his side arching his head back toward his neck.

Wrapping him a blanket, Jon was rushed back to the veterinary hospital. “It was the most helpless feeling listening to this baby cry in my lap as I drove with tears in my eyes,” his foster mom explained later.

The vet saw Jon right away and both he and our volunteer knew what came next. Jon was humanely euthanized. He took his last breath just after 12 pm. There was something else that could be done to end Jon’s pain, but it wasn't the option we wanted. We wanted the one that would have allowed him to keep on living.