Pet of the Month - July 2014 - Oliver and Lilly

Oliver and Lilly. The last thing we needed was two kittens. So when my mom mentioned that her neighbor hadfound two kittens and was looking for a home for them, I did not think too much about it.  That is until my 5 kids heard about them. They insisted that we go see them. That's all it took. We saw them and fell in love with the kittens. Now the kids had to convince their dad to let us take them. It is a good thing my husband is a “cat-man".

After much debate, we named the kittens Oliver and Lily. And a couple days later, we discovered that the two also had a brother who had been wandering the streets until my mother's neighbor picked him up as well. We could not take in a third cat. Instead we convinced my mother to take him.   She now has a new cat, Smokey.

Oliver and Lilly had found their forever home. We took them to the vet, got their shots, drops for ear mites, drops for their eyes, and gave them a flea bath. Both kittens seemed to have colds. Lilly improved, but Oliver did not. While the kids played with Lilly, I would cuddle Oliver. He was very lethargic, would stumble when he walked, snorted when he breathed, and his ears and mouth smelled.

After a few visits to the vet, Dr Smith figured he might have a tumor. To completely remove the tumor would require surgery by a specialist and is very expensive. We had both kittens "fixed" and front declawed. Well under anesthesia, Dr Smith removed as much of the growth as he could from Ollie. It turned out to be the biggest growth that he had seen! It was not cancerous but he will still eventually need the surgery by a specialist. However this bought us a little time.

Oliver can now breathe without difficulty, his eyes and ears are fine and he no longer smells!  He runs, plays, and is doing great. He still comes and sits on my lap so we can cuddle.

These kittens that we did not need, needed us, and have taken us on quite a journey. We are excited to see what the future holds.