I just have to share my utter elation at this moment. And, while certainly saving related - this may not be the saving you would expect!
Over the weekend I spent my days in meetings about expanding SavvyShopperDeals.com to the entire state of Utah. My colleagues and I also had the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. In the process we laughed about my savvy farm life: the cows running through the garden, the horses breaking trees in the orchard and roosters chasing the kids around. I also mentioned our cats, which I HAVE to get fixed as they keep having babies. So appropriately, we came home Saturday and on Sunday morning, in addition to finding Easter Eggs, we found 4 newly born kittens as well.
The kittens are absolutely darling (anyone need a kitten?) and lovable. Macgyver, the kids and I moved the momma and her babies to a safer location than the previous haystack birthing center and thought all was well. We put them all in a kennel overnight to make sure mom and babies would be safe. But this morning, as I was working on round one of Utah Grocery Deal Emails, I saw the mother cat heading back to the haystack. I went down to the garage to see if she was planning on moving her little brood back to the stack, to potentially be crushed, and to my surprise found a fifth kitten, cold and lifeless, had recently been placed in the kennel. We had left a kitten behind in the move! I swear I searched that haystack to make sure all the kittens had been found, but alas, one tiny orange snuggly ball of fluff was left behind to brave the cold night alone.
The kitten was silent and fairly rigid. Thinking it had surely passed, I gently laid it down quietly pondering what I should do with it. It was then I felt impressed to try my own version of kitten CPR and make sure there was no chance for life. I pushed gently and rhythmically up and down on the cat's fragile chest. Nothing. I laid the kitten down again and was about to scour the haystack once more when I felt impressed to pick up the baby and try again. I rubbed and rubbed its' slender torso. I even blew a little in the baby's mouth (a sight to see I'm sure!). And then to my surprise it moved slightly. Was there a chance it could still be alive or had it passed so recently that I was merely witnessing a muscular contraction? I ran in the house, turned on the blow dryer and grabbed a syringe filled with warm milk.
After about 5 minutes of stroking its soft newborn fur and gently prodding it to eat I heard a faint whimper. My heart soared with excitement and for the next 15 minutes I cradled this once lifeless being in my hands in the hopes its' life would be spared. After steady cries and movement were apparent I returned the baby to its' mother, with an admittedly prideful heart, and if it lives on, I'm naming it Lucky! Oh my savvy life....
That is a awesome story. Thank you for sharing. We're buying our first home this week and will be moving Saturday and one of the first orders of business, once we've settled in, is to get a cat/kitten. We'd love to take one or two off your hands. Once they are ready to leave their mother of course.
ReplyDeleteYAY - They're yours. You can have 1st pick in a couple weeks! Where do you live?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing what we accomplish with we listen to those impressions? Thank you for sharing this heartwarming story!
ReplyDeleteIm so happy that you saved it! Good job listening to the spirit!
ReplyDeleteNot only do you help us save money, but you uplift up too. Thanks Amy
ReplyDeleteawesome story Amy! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks! My kids will be so excited. We'll be moving to Springville this weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, what a tender story! I wish so bad I could take one of your kitties! I love that you live a a mini little farm!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a neat story, I too played mid-wife to my dog. My dog just had puppies...Shitzu and one was breach which is not unusual, But I noticed only one foot and tail. I watched for a couple minutes and she was not making any success and noticed the paws were looking a little blue. So I grabbed my rag and grabbed the puppy and pulled carefully. I did this a couple of more times and finally the puppy was born. But was not moving so I wrapped it in my rag and rubbed and did some puffs in the puppy's nose. It started to gasp and suctioned it out and rubbed and puffed some more... finally it started to cry!! Life is so precious!!
ReplyDeleteThat's so neat. Reminds me of 101 Dalmatians!
ReplyDeleteI just read your story and it brought back memories of the rescue of my bunnies. I lived on a farm growing up and we raised rabbits. A dog had broken one of the cages and killed a mother rabbit who had given birth the day before. We quickly brought the bunnies in from the cold and realized the fur that the mother used for the nest was suffocating the poor bunnies. Unfortunately we were unable to save 4 of the 6, but the two we were able to revive held a different place in our family. It's an exciting thing to be a part of and witness!
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