Chicken Nugget’s Tale

Chicken Nugget was found alone outside as a tiny ball of fur only two or three weeks old. The kind gentleman who found him couldn’t afford to pay the extensive veterinary bills needed to help little Chicky so reached out to The Cat Connection. We took the sweet but struggling kitten, cleaned him up, got him the preliminary care that he needed, and started the long road of nurturing.

Tiny Nugget had a terrible respiratory infection and couldn’t breathe through his nose. His eyes were so infected and swollen that we didn’t have much hope that he’d be able to see out of or even keep both of them. He was so tiny that he needed feeding every 2 – 3 hours day and night! His care-giver sacrificed sleep for weeks and fought for baby Chicken Nugget 24/7. Eye drops, meds, syringe feeding, and loving attention started showing their efficacy after a couple weeks but Chicky still had a lot of growing and healing to do.

Since Chicken Nugget was so young and fragile, it wasn’t a great idea to leave him alone. We took him with us everywhere! He got to go on many adventures while he was getting better. He was a special guest at two Cat Connection garage sales, went on an exciting trip to the lake, and spent hours with our Cat Connection family. As he healed and his eyes cleared up, so many of us cheered for him! Eventually, he was big enough to meet a few kitten friends who were also found alone in the world. They went together to stay with foster parents for a while.

As Chicken and his friends got older, we discovered that they were positive for feline leukemia. It was a heartbreaking moment but we dug into research and discovered that this diagnosis wasn’t the death sentence that we feared. We knew the kittens had to find very specific homes with people who understood feline leukemia. The Cat Connection was able to find another organization that specializes in working with fe-leuk cats and finding them homes.

Chicken and his friends are happily still together and waiting for fur-ever homes. They are playful, loving, cheerful little cats who have, so far, beaten all the odds thanks to The Cat Connection and our friends. We thank all of our donors for providing us the means to treat all four of these buddies, especially Chicky, who needed so very much.