Update for Kitten Fund

Update for Kitten Fund

Dear kitten friends,

One of this month’s newsiest kittens is tiny, quirky Drita. Sister to the recently-adopted Carla (with whom she shares a “Mob Wives”-inspired moniker), Drita is…well, as quoth the old Cyndi Lauper album, “She’s So Unusual.”

Despite being about 3 months old, Drita still has the appearance, weight and behavior of a very young kitten. Go to visit her in the hospital (where she’s in residence for now), and you’ll find that the Tabby’s Place staff is doing everything possible to make grown-up food tempting for little Drita, right down to the instructions to feed her “yummy wet food with treats on top.” Drita doesn’t seem to care too much for food she has to chew, though, and that’s plain from her current specs. Would you believe that a three-month-old only weighs in at 1.5 pounds? Talk about teeny.

In addition to her preference for being bottle-fed, Drita is – not to put it too indelicately – “cerebrally dull,” with an unusually large forehead, severe overbite, and wide eyes. Could our gentle little girl have the same condition that gave Bialy these characteristics?

As of this writing, we’re awaiting blood test results on little Drita, but we may soon be bringing her to a neurologist, who can evaluate her for hydrocephalus or any other brain condition. I’ll be sure to let you know next month anything we find out.

Meantime, little Drita is as sweet and adorable as any kitten – and we pray she’s just going to need a bit of extra help and patience in growing up. Not that she knows the difference. I suppose that’s one of the benefits of being a cat – the absolute assurance in one’s own perfection.

Just a few days ago, I sat on the floor in the hospital to play with Drita. She lives in one of the cages for her own good (hospital resident Lacey is about 38 times her size), and as soon as I opened the door to the cage, Drita was climbing up my arm to a safe spot under my chin. There were two other big kitties in another cage, and while they appeared to be quiet, sweet cats, Drita was a bit leery of them. She sat under my chin (rumbling her kitten purr right into my throat), staring at the other cats, clearly trying to figure out what they were doing there.

I mentioned that Drita is not a brainiac, right? After thinking very hard (for her) about those big kitties for a few minutes, she completely forgot their existence in order to use my arms as jungle gyms. She climbed up within inches of her neighbors, but didn’t show a bit of curiosity – she was one hundred percent absorbed in her own play.

I finally convinced Drita to climb back down my arm and into her house (where she promptly ignored her grownup food), and by then she had me firmly wrapped around her pinky claw. What a darling.

You’ll be hearing more about our special little girl, because clearly she’s got quite a story to tell. We just have to figure out what the story is! Thank you for helping us to provide little Drita and so many other kittens with the love and support they need, no matter how long they’re with us. We are all so very grateful for your generosity, and we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons!