Coco, our kitten

I don't really like posting twice in a day, but it make things so much easier, when I have my blog sent to family and friends in one fell swoop. I figure that this is the best place to post what is going on with our dear little kitten that we've only have for a few weeks.

On Good Friday, we were packing to spend the weekend in TN with my husband's awesome parents. As I was doing some last minute checking on our chicks in the garage, I noticed a little black kitten running in and out of the door. Well, at that moment, we didn't have any cats or kittens, and it was completely unexpected. The children immediately fell in love with her and asked if they could keep her. Well, we were about to take off for the whole weekend, and I didn't think it would be safe to lock her in the garage, especially with those little chicks! So, I told the kiddos that if the kitten were still around when we got home after the weekend, they could keep her.

Promises are promises!

On the following Monday, after coming home from our Girl Scout meeting, who should come up the driveway, but that little black kitten! Okay, so now we have a kitten. The neighbors are absolutely tickled, and they are now teasing that maybe a pot-bellied pig or goat should be next in line for our farm. Right. After tossing names around for a day or so, we all settled on the name of Coco, as she is not just black, but has somewhat of brown highlights in her long hair. She is really adorable, and has been a blessing in teaching the children the responsibility of feeding and caring for an animal. The only thing they are not responsible for is the litter box.

This past weekend, on Sunday, our dear little one was attacked by a 3-legged dog. To us, it looked like a pitbull-mix, but the shelter said they entered it in as a boxer-mix. It doesn't really matter, a Coco was really torn up from the encounter. Her left front arm was fractured at all of her major joints: shoulder, elbow (the worst), and wrist. Since she's so tiny at about 8 weeks old, the doctor had to do a closed manipulation of the bones to get them all back in place. Her bones are too small to try to screw back together. The doctor was most concerned about her elbow, as it took the worst of the injuries. If the elbow can't heal in a decent manner, the arm will have to be taken off. Even if it stays on, she won't get too much use out of it, poor thing.

Right now, my wonderful sister-in-law is caring for the kitten, since she works at the animal hospital. The kitten will be in a splint for at least 4-6 weeks, if all goes as planned. I fear when she will be released to come home as these children are soooo rough! We'll figure it out, eventually.

I called the shelter, as the dog was not recognized by any of the neighbors that were present when the incident happened. The shelter said that I have to call everyday to see if the dog has been claimed. If he is claimed, the shelter will give me the owner's information so I can get them to pay the doctor bills. I feel sorry for the dog, as he was pretty nice and social with the humans around. My major concern was that he did start for the kitten while it was still in my son's arms. See, he took her outside to show the neighborhood children up the street his new kitten, against mother's orders. Whew, if ever there were a lesson to be learned!