|
 |
|
| Name: |
Diesel
|
Age: |
Ten weeks old
|
| Gender: |
Male
|
Kind: |
Domestic Medium Hair
|
| Home: |
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
|
On Friday, 9/11/15, my husband worked late, and when he got home I walked outside to greet him. I noticed that my big tomcat Buster was very interested in something over by my husband's huge Ford F-350 diesel truck, so I wandered over to investigate.
Imagine my utter shock when I saw a tiny black kitten wedged between the bumper and the radiator. As I approached him, he spit and hissed and swatted at my hand and just generally let me know to back off. It was dark, and we thought we'd have a hard time getting this hostile little fluff ball out of the truck, so we just left him, thinking he'd be safe in our yard if he got down. Little did we know. During the night he crawled further into the engine. He'd cry piteously until we got close to the truck, then shut up so we couldn't figure out exactly where he was. It took dismantling the air handler and the battery case, two hours in the hot sun, and five people to get this little beast out of the engine and into a crate.
Furious? Oh, yes. I couldn't get near him, even to give him food or water. I feared for my hands! We just left him alone in a bathroom over the weekend, though I'd check on him every couple of hours. I wondered what Jackson Galaxy would do in this situation, and I realized that he'd advise play - so I found a feather toy and attempted to play. While I still couldn't approach him, he'd bat at the toy so I was encouraged. On Monday, I took him to vet for a checkup. While healthy and 6 to 8 weeks old, he was covered in lice - I've never had to deal that before! The vet advised keeping him overnight to apply insecticide and baths. As it turned out, he ended up staying 3 days. But what I got back from the vet was the sweetest, cuddliest, and most playful little guy you can imagine.
Once he wasn't being eaten alive by the lice, his disposition changed and he is a delight. Since then, he's grown quite a bit, is eating us out of house and home, and has made my husband (whose first words upon discovery of the kitten in the truck were "we're NOT keeping him!") fall in love with him. His name was a no-brainer - it had to be Diesel. I still fear for my hands, though, since he plays rough! The other two cats are not happy at all but I think everybody will adjust. We're still not sure if he really rode about four miles home in that truck, or if he was dumped near our yard and jumped in it when Buster approached, but I consider him my little miracle.
|
|
|
|
|
