We have 3 ginger tabby boys that live with my wife and myself in Southern California. Riley is the oldest at 13+, and we rescued 2 brothers whom we named Patrick and Michael (Pat and Mike, now 10+).
This story has to do with the little furry guy Mikey.
First, a little back-story on the brothers Pat and Mike...
Back about 11 years or so ago we had a female tuxedo named Figgy. We had her for about 12 years when she came down sick one day. She refused to eat or drink water, so we took her to the Vet. We were heartsick to find out she had renal failure, and her kidneys were just totally shut down. Well ,we made the hard decision, and Fig was put to rest and cremated. We still have her next to her old buddy Clyde, another ginger male we had the privilege to live with for over 22 years. They rest in a nice bookcase in the living room, and I pick them up from time to time to tell them I still love them.
We went to a local rescue shelter to find another kitten to take home. Brook found a picture of who turned out to be Patrick on their website, and the shelter was very close to where we were living at the time. We arrived, and the rescue lady brought Pat out from a back room for us to see. she handed the gorgeous kitten to my wife, and he immediately snuggled into her arms and began to purr loudly. The deal was sealed... there was NO way we would go home without this little guy, the newest addition to our furbaby family!
As she was doing the paperwork for Patrick, the lady was looking kind of sad as she worked. This made me VERY curious as to why she was sad at such a joyous occasion, and she answered me by mentioning Pat's brother, the very last of the litter.
She told me that she was kind of worried that the other kitten would have a hard time with finding a home, because he... well, to be honest, he just was kind of an ugly duckling. He was the runt of the litter too, and had a hard time making it in a litter of 6 kittens.
Listening to this tale, I was intrigued as to what would happen to the little guy, so I made the 'mistake' of asking her to show him to me. Turned out ok as you will see, LOL!
She went back into the back room and came out holding a little teacup sized ginger and white fuzzball. She handed him over to me, and I snuggled the little guy to my chest. He immediately started to make a funny noise... kind of identifiable as a purr, but it was a bit off. Not a solid, regular purr, but a raspy type of breathing. Yeah, it was kind of weird to begin with, but after snuggling into my chest, the little guy turned his head to face me.
GAD, was he an ugly little thing. He was wall-eyed, meaning his eyes seemed to be too far apart, and WAY too big for his head, and his ears were laying flat on his head. His face seemed to be pushed in, too... not in a way that would identify a nice Persian aspect, but his nose was too short. He had ALL kinds of different stripes and marks, white paws, but his 'socks' were all uneven. His left sock was all the way down to his ankle, the right one 1/2 way to his shoulder. I immediately thought to myself that this little guy was a regular 'DNA Stewpot". All of the leftovers from forming all of the beautiful kittens this little guy got. BUT...
He turned his head and our eyes met. SPARKS! We formed a lifelong love in that split second. Mikey and I are bonded like no other cat I've been owned by for YEARS! Patrick bonded with my wife, and all 5 of us are VERY happy living together. Mikey sticks with me morning, night, and day, bringing me joy and happiness. He's truly my best furry buddy, and I couldn't imagine living without him for as long as possible. I LOVE him, heart and soul. We even play catch on the patio with kitty treats. He LOVES these little crunchy kitty treats called Whiskas Temptations, but just the chicken flavor. The other flavors, not so much. But I recommend them highly.
But, on to the main story here...
I was in my study on my computer checking out the morning's news when I heard my wife Brook practically screaming my name from our enclosed patio where our cats usually hang out. I jumped up and hurried outside to see my wife pointing to Mikey, who was collapsed on his right side.
I first noticed his tongue hanging out of his mouth with a small puddle of foam coming out, his tongue just lolling out and hanging. I dropped to my knees and checked out his head. His eyes were WIDE open,and the pupils were fixed and VERY dilated. I gently picked up his head, and I felt a strange coldness about it... as if there was no life to it at all. I started to freak out a bit, and stroked his lifeless body. I discovered that he had relieved his bowels, too. I've seen plenty of dead cats in my time, and it was just then I confirmed to myself that my furry buddy Mikey was dead.
Tears were rolling down my face as I let out a howl/shriek of pain for him. BUT, it took me less than a few seconds to realize I should DO something, ANYTHING to see if I could help my beloved friend.
I scooped up his lifeless body and put it on our large patio table, and began what would be considered 'kitty CPR'. I began by compressing his chest rapidly for about 15 seconds, then stroked his body firmly. I got his head in both of my hands and formed my mouth around his muzzle, and blew into him 4 or 5 times, each time compressing his chest after blowing into him.
This went on for what seemed an eternity to me, but my wife said it was like 2 minutes or so, when the miracle happened!
Mikey came back to us!!!
His eyes first started to blink a little, then his pupils rapidly closed to the little slits that would be normal for such a bright day outside. He started taking deep breaths on his own as I continued stroking his body up and down. After about 30 seconds after that, he stood up by himself.
I was absolutely stunned by his return from what seemed like a certain death!
My wife rushed to get our cat carrier, and I gently coaxed Mike into it. Having him secured and comfortable, we rushed him to an Emergency Vet Clinic. After many tests and X-rays, the Vet couldn't see anything wrong with Mike, and we took him home.
He hasn't shown any signs of what happened that Sunday to this day, about 2 1/2 months after. He's currently curled up on our bed, and dreaming of who knows what, because his toes and whiskers are twitching, LOL!
So that's the story of my miracle kitty Mikey. I'm VERY grateful that he seemed to return, and I hope we have many more years of mutual love to come.
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