A little kitten had everything going against him when he was found in poor shape, but he never gave up.
Hannah Shaw, founder of Orphan Kitten Club, was contacted about an orphaned kitten who was discovered at the border of San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, along with his litter mates but only he survived.
The kitten was picked up by an officer. He was underweight, extremely dehydrated and had a very low body temperature. With help from rescuers, Jackie and Sonja, and the San Diego Humane Society, they were able to rescue the kitten and transfer him to a temporary foster parent who did everything she could to keep him alive.
They named him Rey, which means king in Spanish.
Once Hannah was back in town, the kitten was handed over to her as he needed critical care. Rey was around three weeks old and only weighed about 170 grams. His body had been cold but after a while of warming up, his temperature was finally up to where it was safe for feeding.
Rey was not able to eat, so Hannah tube-fed him with small amounts of formula mixed with pedialyte. "He is very sick but hanging in there. He is a fighter—very vocal, but also extremely thin and dehydrated," Hannah wrote on Instagram. "We will do everything we can to get him well."
"The plan is to continue with tube feeding, SQ fluids, and general nursing care until he is stable, which will likely be many days."
Since Rey couldn't regulate his temperature, he was placed in an incubator and given a teddy bear to cuddle with and plenty of soft blankets to snuggle on.
The next morning, the kitten perked up for the first time, looking at his foster mom with his beady eyes, feeling loved.
Over the next 48 hours, the kitten continued to put on weight and gain strength with round-the-clock care.
"Rey is showing signs of great improvement. He even purred this morning during his toothbrush session! His favorite thing is to be wrapped in this fleece blanket and brushed," Hannah said.
"I truly believe that through a combination of gentle love, nursing support, and good ol' modern medicine, this little king will pull through."
He was the sole survivor of his litter and he never stopped fighting to live.
On the first day of 2019, cheers were resonating from their foster room as Rey suckled down his very first bottle of food, all by himself.
"Rey just drank a bottle on his own for the first time," Hannah said. "I'm so proud of this lil dude!"
Follow updates on Rey on Facebook and Instagram. If you would like to support their rescue efforts, click here to see how you can help.
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