Adorable Kitten Carries Her Favorite Toy Everywhere She Goes After Being Put Into Foster Care Alone
Matilda Beans had a rough start, but this tiny kitten found exactly the kind of care she needed. Born with an upper respiratory infection, she got sicker while her littermates improved, until foster mom Ashley Kelley stepped in and brought her home.
From there, Matilda needed round-the-clock attention, and she also found an unlikely comfort object, a stuffed toy named Lamby Beans. What started as a fight to save her health turned into a sweet foster story about a kitten who refused to be alone.
And once Lamby Beans entered the picture, Matilda never really let it go.
"I have ICU equipment at my house (an incubator, oxygen concentrator, nebulizer, injectable fluids, and the ability to give medications. I work from home, so I am able to monitor her constantly), so it was decided that she should come to my house to get through her sickness."
"Once she got here, though, she actually got a little bit worse and was diagnosed with severe corneal ulcers and a pretty severe case of pneumonia on top of her URI. The option of euthanasia was brought up by the vets at her worst point as a compassionate option since she was very, very sick, but I knew she wasn’t ready to give up," Ashley said.
"It took a whole month of constant oxygen therapy, multiple nebulizer treatments per day, very strong antibiotics, eye drops, and nose drops to get her through it, but she was very strong-willed and wanted to live, so she did!"
"We were told she may not see, but her ulcers cleared up completely, and she seems just fine. She amazes me!"
"She is now almost 11 weeks old and still has some residual lung scarring and chronic congestion problems we are working on clearing up, but she is otherwise a very healthy and happy growing girl. She is very feisty and playful but will pause her playtime to come cuddle up and lick my nose in an aggressively affectionate way."
"She is constantly moving, playing, and wrestling with her kitten friends. She’s been such a joy to foster."
So, how is Matilda doing these days? "Matilda Beans is doing great!" says Ashley.
"She has some persistent sneezes and watering eyes occasionally, but it is minimal and not contagious to other cats. We are optimistic that she will eventually outgrow it, but if not, that’s okay too."
"She can still live a happy, fulfilling life! She is still looking for her forever home!"
And if you think cat chaos is rare, this is nothing compared to an ex-roommate stealing one cat and getting outplayed by a foster parent: foster parent plays fast one on ex-roommate who took one of her cats.
"Adopters will need to be within 4 hours of the Los Angeles area and have another young cat to be friends with her. They must also promise to never declaw and to keep her indoors."
Ashley says she has never given up on a foster kitten, no matter how sick they may be. "I’ve fostered a lot of sick kittens, and not all of them make it."
"And I never give up on a foster kitten, but when they are too sick or incompatible with life on earth, they always tell me in their way."
"There will be different symptoms, of course, with each case, but I can always see when the light goes out in their eyes. Matilda Beans’ light never even dimmed; it is a wildfire rather than a light."
"I foster one litter or group of kittens at a time, and after one group gets adopted, I tend to take the next one in pretty quickly since there is a never-ending need. I specialize in sickly or special needs kittens, and there are tons of them out there!"
"Matilda Beans was a more intensive case since she needed round-the-clock care for over a month. But that is not unusual for the demographic of kittens I foster."
But what we really want to know is, how did Matilda get Lamby Beans? "Lamby Beans was in my stash of washable foster kitten toys; I’m not even entirely sure where it came from!" Ashley said.
"But when she hit the playful 3-week-old stage, I put it in the incubator with her so she’d have a friend, and she took right to it! They were inseparable until she finally got past her contagious point and could meet my other two fosters."
"She spends less time with LB now, but she still cuddles up to it when she’s sleepy."
We hope you have the best life ever, Matilda Beans!
After this kitten’s foster scare, read how two sister cats survived two adoptions during their owner’s hospice care: two beloved sister cats stick together through two adoptions.
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