Tinny Kitten Was About To Be Put Down But One Vet Saved Her – She Paid Him Back By Completely Changing His Life
At the height of kitten season, Kwane Stewart was visiting each cage with his vet tech to examine sick and wounded kittens when he first saw Sushi. Sushi was just one of the many kittens that Stewart noticed in need of his assistance while working as a veterinarian at an underfunded shelter in Modesto, California.
But she had a unique quality. There was something special about that kitten.
“I came up to Sushi’s cage, this little Siamese mix … her eyes were crusted shut and she had a really bad upper respiratory infection,” Stewart says. “She could fit in the palm of my hand … she probably weighed about as much as a set of keys.”
Stewart initially believed that putting her to sleep would be the most humane course of action. But something made him hesitate.
“I came back to her cage and I just looked at her and I said, ‘Why don’t you put some food in there?’”
Most kittens just sat in the corner and ignored the meal whenever Stewart performed the food test on them. Stewart was surprised to see Sushi walk over to the dish and begin nibbling right away.
At that point, he decided to take Sushi home and raise her himself because he felt she deserved a chance to recover.
“She looked like a fighter,” Stewart said.
When Kwane Stewart met Sushi, he knew she was a fighter
Sushi received the best possible care from Stewart, his son, and his girlfriend, along with all the affection she had never known. It took her two weeks to even open her eyes, and by the time she was six weeks old, she had grown into a strong, spirited little kitten.
Stewart had always preferred dogs over cats, but Sushi had a profound impact on him. When the time eventually came for Sushi to be placed for adoption, Stewart and his family were unable to give her away.
Sushi literally became her dad's little shadow after they decided to keep her.
He and his family helped her get better and even adopted her.
“I would come home from work, and she would immediately run to me and cry,” Stewart said. “When I would sit at my desk and do work, she would jump up on my shoulders, almost like a neck pillow, and wrap around my neck and just purr. We had this really cool bond.”
Sushi made sure to express her gratitude to her dad, who she seemed to know had saved her. All of Stewart's subsequent projects have been inspired by the once-tiny kitten.
He ran a campaign to get his county to construct a stunning new shelter where people are eager to go and choose new family members. Previously, the euthanasia rate was among the highest in the nation; today, the shelter is almost completely no-kill.
Sushi has had a significant influence on all of this and on Stewart's current project, Project Street Vet.
She also inspired him to expand the areas his humanitarian project covered
When Stewart stopped to assist a homeless man whose dog had fleas, Project Street Vet was born. For Stewart, it simply took a little time and a few dollars out of his own pocket to procure the puppy a flea treatment and completely change the lives of both the dog and her owner.
Everyone else had disregarded the couple. The man was so profoundly appreciative that Stewart made the decision to assist other homeless people and their pets in receiving the care they required.
The Street Vet project helps homeless people and their pets
Stewart held his first pop-up clinic at a soup kitchen
He held his first pop-up clinic at a soup kitchen before moving on to other locations to assist those who couldn't travel to him.
Over the years, Stewart has significantly impacted the lives of numerous animals, and Sushi is entirely to blame.
“After claiming Sushi as my own, this random cat that almost got euthanized, I realized that these animals are special,” Stewart said. “After her, I opened up my heart a little more.”
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