Meet Buddy!

We found him when he was about 8 or 10 weeks old, living under our back porch. We were able to easily catch him because he couldn't see. Buddy was sick with a respiratory infection.

His eyes and nose were crusted closed with drainage and he had dried grass stuck all over his little face. His breathing was labored and we could hear him wheezing from several feet away. He was obviously very sick.

The weather was beginning to turn cold at night and we feared he would not survive another night on his own. If he did survive, he would surely starve because, not only could he not even see any prey because of the drainage sealing up his eyes but his breathing was so noisy, prey could hear him coming from a mile away! And how could he possibly avoid becoming prey himself! We knew we had to try and help this little guy!

We have no idea how he came to be under our porch but fate had definitely led him to the right place. We brought him in and after much fighting and squirming, we managed to get him cleaned up.

He was very fearful. It was apparent he had not been around people. He fought us like crazy and resisted everything we did. This little guy was a fighter! But he exhausted himself very quickly and his resistance weakened. It was like he just gave up and let things happen.

After cleaning him up, we put him in the isolation room with a nice warm blanket, water, a few kitten sized toys, and a little litter box. Now that his face was clean, he was able to see but his breathing was still labored and wheezy. We left him alone to explore his surroundings while we prepared some food. We prayed he would be able to eat.

We mixed some homemade cat food with some baby food and warmed it a little for him. At first, he seemed uninterested. We suspected he just didn't recognize the food as food. Finally, after much coaxing and smearing a little on his lips to make him lick, he got excited! He recognized the food and boy did he eat!

We were thrilled! A kitten that will eat solid food doubles his chances of survival. And as much as Buddy ate, we figured he'd live forever!

The next day, we took him to the vet and discovered that he probably had a Herpes virus, common in kittens. Because the virus can tax the immature immune system of a kitten, he was at risk for or possibly had a bacterial infection as well so antibiotics were prescribed.

He got a shot of antibiotic but no vaccines yet since he was too sick. We brought him home with instructions to give oral antibiotics and to continue to provide good food and lots of rest. We also started him on Lysine. L-lysine is an amino acid that interferes with the replication of the Herpes virus.

Giving him the lysine was easy - we ground the pill to a fine powder using a coffee bean grinder, mixed it in his food and he ate it right up. The antibiotics were another matter. If we mixed it in his food, he wouldn't eat and he fought like crazy when we tried to administer the liquid with an eye dropper.

And when we say fight - we mean FIGHT! This tiny little kitten turned into a Tasmanian devil! He would run and hiss and scratch and bite! It took 2 of us to give him the medicine and somebody always ended up scratched or bitten! We were afraid the stress of getting him to take his medication would imped his recovery.

We decided to try mixing the antibiotic in with some baby food and - Eureka! He would lap it up every time! No stress, no injuries!

He quickly befriended Murry, another rescued kitten a few weeks his junior. They explored together, played together, ate together and even slept together (on the bed with us!).

Eventually, Buddy was old enough and healthy enough to be neutered and he settled in nicely with the rest of the family. He seemed quite happy.

Then, disaster struck! One day, we watched him suddenly leap off the back of the couch and fall over sideways. He kept falling over when he tried to walk, vomited, and in a mad dash for the litter box, he smashed into a wall and lost control of his bowels. His eye were darting back and forth, he kept falling over, and he acted like he was very dizzy.

As we had never seen this before and it was a weekend, we rushed off to the emergency vet, an hour away. We prayed he would survive. His symptoms mimicked those of poisoning but he had been with us all morning and there was nothing he could have gotten into. Needless to say, we were very worried.

Buddy spent 2 nights at the emergency vet receiving fluids, antibiotics, and steroid type medication for inflammation but they could not figure out what was wrong. He showed some improvement and his eyes were not darting back and forth as much but he still lost his balance and seemed to have trouble focusing.

We picked him up bright and early Monday morning and headed straight for our regular vet. After a review of his medical records and lengthy discussion, our vet determined that he likely had developed Vestibular Syndrome.

Vestibular Syndrome is the name for a set of symptoms (which fit Buddy to a "T") that has no known cause. And recovery could be complete, to partial, to none, depending on the cat. All we could do now was bring him home, provide TLC, and wait and see.

Well, as we said before, our Buddy is a little fighter. Nothing can hold him back. At first, when he would try to jump to something, he would leap off, arms held out in front of him like Superman, veer off to the left and completely miss the mark! We worried he would hurt himself but, short of cage confinement (torture for Buddy!), there was no stopping him. So we watch and worried.

He still as occasional wheezing (Herpes is never cured, only controlled) especially when the weather changes and he still get the lysine in his food 3 times a week - daily if he starts wheezing.

We do notice some shortness of breath if he plays too hard and there is some minor impairment of his vision, hearing and sense of smell. But otherwise, he is just like any other active 2 year old!

He is a feisty little bugger that thinks he is 'King of the Cats'! He takes a walking survey of the house and grounds several times a day just to be sure all is well. He tries to boss the other cats around but they mostly just look at him as if to say 'Yea Yea - You're the King' and walk away.

As for us people, we can't do anything without his supervision. He even supervises the vacuuming! When the others run away, Buddy sits right there, on a table or chair, pointing out spots we missed!

He goes crazy over his favorite toy, DaBird (a fishing pole toy). We have to keep it in a locked cupboard because he has learned to open every cupboard and drawer in the house! If we don't lock up his toy, he steals it and goes running off with it to shred it up!

He greets us by standing up on his hind legs and putting up his arms like a child begging to be picked up. And of course, we can't resist, we always pick him up and give him lots of petting!

He still likes sleeping on the bed but sometimes snores so loud he wakes us up! Of course, we can't kick him out no matter how much noise he makes!

Buddy has been through a lot in his short little life but he's come through it all with flying colors. He is happy, as healthy as he can be, and remains as feisty as ever!

We are glad that he came into our lives. And we suspect he is glad too!