George is Saved in the Nick of Time

After making sandwiches on Oaknut bread, bread that I knew would become soggy within less than an hour with the shrimp salad that was as fine as any you could ever taste, I knew I was going to forget something in my haste to stuff all the necessary accoutrements into a tote bag for the show. Hmm – napkins (lots), cut strawberries, a decent domestic red, plastic champagne glasses(?), corkscrew – where is she? the sandwiches are already getting soggy – oh, yeah, water and skeeter repellant. I should have waited to make these stupid sandwiches.
There is still about 45 minutes before the music starts, so just take a deep breath and, there she is pulling in the driveway now. Don’t show any impatience, now. This should be good. This week it is a bluegrass band playing on the lawn of the Appleby Library, conveniently within walking distance up the street on this pleasant June evening. So into the house she walks with a commiserative and piteous look on her face, and a peach basket on her arm. She folds back the layers of towels in the basket and in the bottom of the basket, there he was – fur all nappy, emaciated, eyes sealed shut with the goop that was oozing out – oh, he was in such bad shape. He couldn’t have been more than four weeks old; why did the mama cat abandon him? So we wiped out his eyes, found a box to put him in, rewrapped him in fresh towels, and placed kitten and a small bowl of water in the box, put the box on top of a heat register (where the pilot light is always on, so it is always a little warm on top), and off we went.
When we got back, the kitten had not moved, and his eyes appeared to have seeped out some more of that ugly sludge, but he seemed to be warm and breathing easier. He was washed in the bathroom sink, and that’s when we started seeing all the huge fleas, living on him and off of him. I mean, these fleas were the size of house flies! They were the grossest and most engorged fleas I had ever seen! After washing him and drying him off, the fleas had to be picked off: I think that Heather probably picked off at least 50 more fleas after most of the varmints jumped off or fell off during the bath or drying. 50 BIG FAT UGLY FLEAS!! It was an absolute shame. But, after wiping his eyes out once more and then making up a tiny bottle of formula for him, which he got the hang of pretty quick, he started to perk up a little. He ended up drinking down about 3 full ounces of formula and then seemed to be able to rest peacefully for a few hours.
His recovery was amazing! Within two days, George the Wonder Kitty, went from the threshold of death’s door to this picture of health that you see below. See what just a little TLC does? And by the way, the music was awesome and immensely enjoyable, and the sandwiches, while they were a little bit soggy, they were delicious, as I knew they would be…