Veterinarian Dr. Kathryn Finlayson said a man brought in a six-week-old female kitten Tuesday afternoon, after he noticed something moving around in a snow bank in Pictou Landing.
Veterinarian Dr. Kathryn Finlayson said a man brought in a six-week-old female kitten Tuesday afternoon, after he noticed something moving around in a snow bank in Pictou Landing.
She said he told her he stopped his car to check on it, thinking it was an injured animal, and found the kitten.
“When we examined it, it had road rash on its face, and on its feet and an obvious broken leg,” Finlayson said, leading them to admit the feline, clean its wounds, and X-ray it to confirm the fracture. Staff members have named her Holly. “It looks like somebody probably threw it out of a vehicle from what we can tell.”
The veterinary care centre in New Glasgow has a fund of donated money that helps in situations like this, allowing them to test the kitten for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) and leukemia.
As both tests were negative, they’re now searching for a new home for the kitten.
Though cold and in a bit of distress when she arrived, Holly is on the mend, Finlayson said, and seems more comfortable. She has had a few hearty meals – a bit of which was still on her face when she came into the examination room for her newspaper photo shoot.
They get rescues coming in “every now and then,” Finlayson said.
“In my opinion, if the people who had this kitten didn’t want it, there’s more humane ways to discard your pet. Throwing a kitten out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a snowstorm isn’t a very caring thing,” she said, recommending that anyone who can’t care for their pet call the SPCA. “Fortunately this man was kind enough to stop and investigate to see.”
Holly, a female tabby with white markings, will be ready to be rehomed within a few days and Finlayson suggests cage rest for six to eight weeks in a home without children or pets while she’s healing.
Her right hind leg is fractured at the top and, because of her size, rest is preferable to a splint. Finlayson said she’ll also have to return in a few weeks for another X-ray to ensure she has healed properly.
She hopes someone is interested in bringing Holly home, and said an adoption fee would be charged in order to recoup some of the costs associated with her care at the clinic.
