Saving Dexter

Dexter is an adorable little black kitty that wandered onto my patio steps a few weeks ago. How did he know an avid cat lover lived here? I was speaking on the phone when I happened to peek out my patio door windows and this small black creature was staring up at me with huge, hollow, sad yellow eyes.

I opened the door and he let out a weak, pathetic meow that melted my heart. He was all skin and bones, so weak he was wobbly, dehydrated from the sweltering heat that day. I hung up the phone, ran to my kitchen and came back with a dish of food. He was so weak, he could hardly eat. I went to my garage and got one of my cat's pet carriers and gently pushed him in. He gave absolutely no resistance. He couldn't. He was barely alive. When I lifted the carrier, it felt as though it were empty. My God, I thought.

I took him to the vet and the tech, horrified, looked at his little belly crawling with fleas. There were so many it looked like letters on a newspaper. He was infested! He was extremely dehydrated (totally white gums and skin that stayed pinched instead of snapping back into place), runny sad eyes and full of worms. So much for one so small to endure. The vet informed me that he wouldn't have lasted much longer had I not brought him in. He was on his way out.

They kept him for two days while feeding him intravenously and giving him B-12 shots. They also bathed him and combed out legions of fleas from his little body! They were eating him alive. Because he only weighed one pound, they couldn't de-worm him because he wasn't strong enough. I almost cried when I left him, afraid he wouldn't make it.

After returning in two days, he looked better but his eyes were still sad. I took him home and isolated him in the spare bedroom from my other cats. He still needed all his shots but had to gain weight before he could get them. Slowly, but surely, he started to eat and eat and eat! My daughter and I rejoiced to see he'd gained a whole pound in a week. What a fighter! He'd wait until I left the room to come out from under the bed to eat and then, scramble back under it. Our cats sniffed under the bedroom door and stalked back and forth relentlessly, wondering who had invaded "their" house. My daughter and I would come in, take him from under the bed, play with him, snuggle and kiss him, all the while cooing about what a brave boy he was. He purred so loudly and had such a grateful look in his eyes that I vowed to spend every penny I had to take care of him.

When he went back to be de-wormed after gaining his whole pound, the vet gave us devestating news. His feline leukemia test was positive. We were crushed! The doctor told us to bring him back in a couple of weeks to be re-tested as sometimes the FeLV test produced a "false positive". We're keeping our fingers crossed, believe me.

My daughter and her friends talked on the phone about what to name him and came up with "Poindexter", Dexter for short. I loved it! Dexter now plays and romps with his toy mouse and balls, climbs on his cat furniture, nips at our fingers and does everything a healthy, normal little kitty does. What a beautiful gem left for dead. I feel so good knowing I rescued this sweet animal and he has graced our lives, regardless of what his next FeLV test shows.

Have you saved a life lately?