Seshanna and her fiancé are loving cat fosterers. They have experience with everything from rescuing a kitty in need, to giving it a place to stay, and finding it the perfect home. With years of experience taking in cats in need, and even having to bottle feed tiny kitties to nurse them back to health, you can imagine Sheshanna and her husband are quite adept at kitty-care.
On March 14th, 2018, one of Sheshanna’s rescue cats gave birth to 5 kittens in a closet in their home. One of the kittens was quite normal and of an average weight, but the other 4? They were tiny. So tiny in fact, there were doubts about if they would make it.
Normal kittens are born weighing about 3.5oz at birth, but the four amazingly small babies weighed only about 1.3oz— less than half the “normal” weight. Being so petite, the poor babies were at risk of “fading kitten syndrome”, a failure to thrive due to different symptoms, which can ultimately lead to an unfortunate demise. These baby kittens were so small, Sheshanna and her spouse didn’t think they would thrive without human intervention.
Sadly, as had been assumed, 3 of the 4 tiny kittens made their journey over the Rainbow Bridge. The one normal-sized kitty was doing okay, but the last micro-kitten was just hanging on and fighting for her life. The big brother was named Mort and the teeny one, Esk.
Sheshanna wrote, “Esk and Mort are named after characters in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and we though Esk’s name was particularly fitting, given the characters nature to defy the odds and show that she’s much stronger than people think she is.”
Seshanna was quick to help as much as she possibly could. With blankets and a heating pad, a warm sleeping area was created so that tiny little Esk could stay warm. The kitten was nearly skin and bones and was having a hard time staying warm, even with her Mama and big brother beside her.
In Esk’s frail condition, human help could only do so much. Luckily, seeing her smallest baby in her frail condition, Mama Cat proved that moms know best!
One day, Seshanna and her fiancé came home to find an alarming lack of cats. The kitties were seemingly nowhere to be found, and it seemed as if they had just vanished. It turns out, however, that the mother cat thought her kittens could be helped by the same people that kept her safe….and so, she set the two babies up in her humans’ bed!
From that moment on, the kittens and their mama all slept with Sheshanna and her spouse, who would happily lend them their warmth and love.
With Esk in such a delicate position, the caretakers couldn’t say no. They refused to push any option aside— especially if it meant being able to save the kitten’s little life.
“When we did find them,” Shoshanna wrote, “they were in our bed, under the blankets.”
“From the third night on their mama has kept both kittens in bed with us, snuggled under the blankets against our thighs, or on top of the covers curled into our hips.”
“She decided the warmest and safest place for her kittens was with us, so there they’ve stayed.”
Since being born, Esk has been monitored extremely closely. She is weighed twice a day to ensure she’s eating enough and growing— no matter how slowly it may be! It took tiny Esk one whole week to get to just 3oz, which is still less than the birth weight of an average kitten! By 3 weeks, she had finally hit 6oz, so it’s clear she’s a fighter, with no regard for the odds stacked against her.
“For being so small, she crawled around the bed really well, and when she is unhappy or hungry she’s got a surprisingly loud squeak for her size. Every day she shows what a fighter she is, and how badly she wants to live.”
Baby Esk nearly didn’t make it, but with proper care and love— and her humans and Mama Cat beside her— the tiny kitten made a turn for the best. Thankfully, Sheshanna and her fiancé refused to give up on this adorable, little soul. We hope she continues to grow strong and spreads her luck to the humans that in her new furever home!
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