Cats by nature are wonderful at masking pain and illness. They are survivors and will overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in order to live. Kittens are especially resilient to injury and fighting disease or parasites.

The surgical removal of an eye or a leg will not slow a feline down for very long. Any human who has undergone a similar loss will understand how the body and mind compensate. A kitten will barely pause long enough to heal before he is scampering around with littermates.

One such kitten I fostered a few years ago came back from the vet sporting a collar after eye surgery. The collar turned out to be quite an advantage at mealtimes, because it blocked his littermates from the food as the kitten ate his fill. It was amusing to watch the frustrated siblings milling around trying to get to the dish.

It was a rigid collar and the little guy would lumbar around tossing his head from side-to-side like an elephant as he walked. To get through an opening smaller than the cone, he quickly learned to toss his head up, position the collar in the opening and push through. Never did he show signs of depression and it was almost a challenge to keep him restricted long enough to heal.

Even a 10-week-old kitten I fostered had my two-story home fully mapped out in her head after only three days. An amazing accomplishment since she had both eyes removed! She could even play soccer, following the ball with her heightened hearing.

Loss of a limb is a bit more challenging at first, but never permanently disables a cat. Running, jumping and climbing are still in the cards, even for the adults. The survivors of these surgeries should never be considered disabled and are just as worthy of adoption as any whole-bodied cat.

Overcoming disease and parasites is often the most challenging for our foster kittens.

For the very young, fighting parasites is not easy. Fleas can, and often do, literally suck the lifeblood from a kitten. It is a slow gruesome death and one reason we treat all trapped ferals for this nasty bug. An anemic kitten can be saved if caught in time. A simple flea bath and spot-on flea treatment is usually all that is needed. Even tapeworms carried by the fleas can easily be gotten rid.

The most common illness we see is Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) and herpes in the eyes. Antibiotics and eye meds are effectively used for these and rarely do any kittens miss their eight-week spay/neuter appointments due to being sick.

The kittens that come into our care are cleaned up, socialized, and healed before they are ready to take their place in a forever home. Even if they come to you on only three legs or with one eye, they come with hearts full of love and playfulness that will last for many long happy years.