The odds were against her.
My wife and I feed about eight outdoor cats and I have build four houses for them, made from plastic ice chests with a hole cut out of them for an entrance.
There is a cat who is barely over a year old. When she was a few months old, she would follow me around while I was doing my yard work. She would hop around the yard but keep close to me. She was my favorite outdoor cat.
A month ago, I noticed that she was pregnant. It was starting to show and her nipples were developing. A few days later, we noticed three little newborn kittens inside one of the forts we built for them. Actually it was a modified Igloo house. A bit roomy for cats but several go into it when it is raining. But there were three little kittens non the less, and they looked like they were premature. Preemies. They were there for a few days and then their mom moved them to under a bunch of bushes. Probably a lot safer for them. But we noticed that one had died just before they were moved.
Well, the other day, I was walking toward the front door and noticed a small kitten laying on the ground panting and looking near dead. I got my wife and we carried it into the house. We could she that she needed immediate attention. My wife tried to give it some water while I went and bought some KMR kitty formula and a feeding kit to administer the food. When I got home, my wife would try to feed it some formula. A little at first since we didn't want to force anything. Four weeks had passed since they were born yet this kittens eyes had not opened yet. A normal span for kittens eyes is seven to ten days after birth, but these kittens were preemies. And this kitten was barely hanging on to life.
My wife fed it formula and water several times for the first day but she would barely intake either one. at least she was taking in a little bit. And she had a fairly strong meow for a weak kitten. I was really hoping for her to hang on and make it through. If she did, she would be a special kitten for my wife.
Yesterday afternoon, the second day we had her, "Tinker" wasn't moving. A good check and we saw that she had died. The sweet thing had struggled for weeks and made it this far. It was sad to see that she didn't make it through. For having a kitten for only two days, she made an impact on me. She joins our feline hall of fame. A collection of pictures of our cats for the last thirty years.
She had strength to make it this far and I hoped she would make it all the way but, The odds were against her.
RIP Tinker
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