My dad found Little Missie the Tuesday after Labor day early in the morning at his Barbers Point work site. The other coworkers almost stepped on her thinking she was a rat. She was starving, anemic, full of fleas and scabs, tiny, and had a stick in her eye. She was held all day by my dad till he could get her to the vet.
The vet had very little hope for this tiny 12oz kitten and just gave some salve to keep the now dead eye moist. Well off to work she went with us the next day and that night to a new vet who treated her for her many illnesses and infections. She was found to have a chemical burn on over half her body, coxcidia, anemia, dehydrated, ringworm, malnutrition, and her eye continued to get worse.
The eye needed to come out but she was too tiny for anesthesia. Two days later, back to the vet because she had started to pull off the skin on her tummy from the chemical burn. Shaved, salved, and cleaner she went back home with us that night.
A week goes by, more visits to the vet and finally the decision is made to take the eye out. It had come out of the socket and finally ruptured and was bleeding. So even thought she was too tiny and not expected to make it, into surgery she went with little chance of coming out. But two hours later she was out and looking a little like Quasimodo with half her head shaven and very swollen. I refused to leave her alone over night so home she went with me.
We had a banquet that night which I was willing to miss but off she went with us to our Jewelers Banquet, discretely kept in a black bag under the table between my feet and constantly being checked. She made it through the night and was trying to play the next morning. She was on her way to a quick recovery.
Fast forward to a very healthy disease free 11-week old kitten that comes to work everyday with us and greets the customers when she is called on. She is now four pounds, has a very healthy coat and is all kitten. She looks great and except for the occasional misjudgment on the right side where she doesn't see everything she is doing quite well. She loves to come out and see what everyone is up to and is quite persistent when she wants attention. She will continue to come to work with us till she decides she would rather stay home and play with the other eight siblings at home. But until then she will be our Kama'aina Metals Mascot.
--Elizabeth at Kama'aina Metals