CLARENCE THE THREE-LEGGED KITTEN, Part 5
Click on the link to read Part 4: The Next Step
There I was, standing in the exam room at OHS Foster Services. The doctor had just officially cleared Clarence to go up for adoption. It was so sudden, so unexpected. I’d assumed I’d be taking him back into foster at least until he got his stitches out, and maybe longer. Now I was faced with a quandary: do I leave Clarence at OHS to await his new family, or do I adopt him myself?
I had no doubt the beautiful kitten with the missing leg would find a new home quickly. Tripods, along with one-eyed or blind cats, have a special place in some compassionate people’s hearts. Those sorts of disabilities don’t worsen or affect the overall health of the cat. They require no expensive medical treatment as do diseases such as diabetes or hyperthyroidism. Cats are incredibly resilient and learn fast to live with their shortcomings, so once a home routine is established, they are no different than any other cat.
The doctor proclaimed Clarence ready to go, but I couldn’t shake the feeling he wasn’t out of the woods yet. With his surgeries only days behind him, unexpected issues could still arise. Though recovery from the amputation and FHO surgery were the main reasons he’d been put into foster, he also had a heart murmur and was still receiving medication for an eye infection, a urinary tract infection, and an issue with yeast in his ears. All but the heart murmur were minor issues in an otherwise healthy cat, but for one whose body had just been through a major trauma, they might not be so simple.
The other option was to adopt him myself. That way I could continue to monitor him and contact the doctors at OHS if there was a problem. He could remain in his now-familiar environment instead of facing a stressful change that could tax his immune system. It would be good for him to stay with me, but it wasn’t my decision alone. I needed my husband’s okay and the assurance that the new addition would work for my other cat companion Tyler.
Last summer, Tyler’s buddy Jaimz crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and I could tell Tyler missed him, but did that mean he would welcome Clarence as a new friend? Tyler, whom I’d adopted from OHS some six years before, was now nearly twenty, big, and could play hard. Would his aggressiveness cause issues for the disabled kitten?
I’d had Clarence for a little under a week, mostly spent recuperating in his room. Clarence and Tyler had barely met each other. It wasn’t nearly enough to predict what the future might hold.
To be continued…
Tyler
