Goodbye Harry

[silverdragon at ezweb.com.au]

Sad animal story... If you're upset by such things please avoid...



About nine weeks ago my black cat had a litter of four kittens; two mackeral tabbies, a silver tab and a tiny little black tab - a runt - with white feet which we called Harry. He was so small, with loads of scruffy black hair. The kids took to Harry straight away, but he didn't thrive like the others. The twins (we named Fred and George) were always brawling and playing tricks on each other. The silver (my SiL called her Lily) was sweet and quiet, and poor little Harry was the loner. Soon enough, the kittens were old enough to find new homes for, and all but Harry were given to (hopefully) good homes. We decided to keep little Harry, since the kids had become so attached to him. Harry ate, let his Mum feed and bathe him, and seemed reasonably healthy; a little small, a little skinny but he seemed ok. Unfortunately, when we got home from shopping this afternoon, his eyes were stare-y and his breathing laboured. Naturally we called the vet and took him in. The news was bad. Poor little Hary had a congential defect, resulting in a very flattened chest and ribcage. His lungs and heart would never grow. The vet said this was the most servere case she'd seen, and most kittens born with this die within minutes, or at the outside, within a week. The fact he'd lasted nearlly nine weeks was incredible. Sadly little Harry was put down this afternoon, as he was in a very bad way. He would have starved to death otherwise as he had stopped eating. Now I have two very distraught children and a distraught me, not to mention a panicking mamacat (who still bathed and looked out for him). My daughter (9) is able to understand what has happened, but my son (4) is proving very difficult to console...

Thanks for listening...

Nox (crying more over a kitten than over many people she knows...)

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