One evening, teenager Annalise Burke and her mom noticed a stray cat wandering around their property. They were surprised since they didn’t usually get strays cats on their rural Idaho farm. The next morning, they went to look for the cat, hoping to bring her to their local humane society.
The mother and daughter didn’t find the cat, but they did discover two tiny newborn kittens.
Sadly, one kitten had already passed away, and the other one was sick. Annalise and her mom waited for a while, hoping the mother cat would come for her kittens. She appeared after a few hours, and the women quickly picked her up and took her and her kitten to the Humane Society for treatment.
When they arrived home after dropping off the cats, Annalise heard faint meowing. The women rushed outside and over to their garden shed. They both began digging until they unearthed a third kitten.
“She had been alone under the shed for at least eight hours,” Annalise told The Dodo. “We dug to get her out. Her face and mouth was covered in dirt, with dirt all inside her throat. She was coughing and wheezing.”
Annalise and her mom cleaned the dirt-covered kitten and tried to feed her. The kitten had been eating dirt and rocks, and she couldn’t stop wheezing.
By that point, it was already evening, and the Humane Society and the veterinary clinic were both closed. And so, Annalise and her mom stayed up all night with the cat. They decided to name the sweet little girl Gemma.
The next morning, Annalise brought Gemma to the vet. The vet told her that the kitten was in bad shape, and her chances of survival were slim.
Around the same time, Annalise learned that the kitten at the Humane Society hadn’t survived. This made her even more determined to save little Gemma. And so, Annalise provided Gemma with 24-hour care. She quit her summer job and focused completely on saving this tiny kitten.
Annalise’s care and dedication paid off. By the time Gemma was a month old, she was healthy and happy!
“I didn’t know if she was going to live or die, and she scared us several times after that by stopping breathing … but she miraculously pulled through,” Annalise said.
Gemma is now six weeks old, and she just reached a big milestone: she has started eating wet cat food! Gemma is a cheerful cat, and her favorite thing to do is cuddle with Annalise. She also likes hanging out with her older sister, Nova.
“Gemma truly had an extreme will to live, after everything,” Annalise said. “It was worth putting my life on hold for her. She is truly an angel.”
Annalise did an amazing job looking after a tiny kitten who had no one else in the world. If you’d like to see more photos of cute little Gemma, check out her Instagram page.
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Source: The Dodo
