I left the farm mid-morning with one of those long lists of errands that we all end up with every once in a while. Stop here, pick up this, ask about that ~ and because I hate running errands, I had left many of them until the last minute. My mind was constantly divided into thirds ~ one third on the place I’d just left, one third on the place to which I was headed next, and one third on my driving. I have no idea which third I was focused on as I drove south on Lincoln Avenue. 

The white and black mass in the middle of the single lane caught my eye from a good distance away, and I gave it just enough thought to make sure I was swerving away from it.  Skunk, I thought, or maybe just trash. As I drew nearer to it, though, something deep in the center of my body started sending out alarm bells. I sharpened my focus, and just as I drew up alongside it, I caught movement. Whatever it was, I realized, wasn’t dead. 

I took a quick left into a store parking lot, did a fast 180, and headed back to the … whatever it was. I pulled into the driveway nearest it, put on my flashers, and ran over to the side of the road. By this time, a young lady had been out to see the little creature, and she turned to me with tears in her eyes.

“It’s still alive,” she said. 

She and I walked out to what I soon realized was a kitten, curled into a ball and shaking.  Blood was running out of its mouth and nose, coating its white face and paws and pooling on the asphalt.  

“I don’t know what to do,” she said.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, either, but I handed her my keys and told her to get a reusable grocery bag from my car’s back seat.  I stood in the road so no one would hit the kitten and watched her run to the car and back with the bag. Then she took a turn redirecting whatever cars might be coming down the road. I don’t think I’ve ever been more thankful for a left-turn lane! 

I quickly moved the kitten onto the bag and picked it up. The drivers so far had kindly swerved around us, but I didn’t need us in the road any longer than necessary! I thanked my partner in rescue and told her not to worry because I ran a sanctuary and the kitten would be just fine.  What I was REALLY thinking was, “Why don’t I have a blanket in my car? I need to pack an emergency kit for the back seat. Later. Now what? The vet. Which vet? The nearest vet.”  At least I could speak reassuring words while my brain babbled! 

As it turned out, the nearest vet was still 20 miles away. I carried on an entire conversation with the little one as I drove, hoping that it didn’t matter what words I said, just that the car was warm, and there were reassuring sounds in the space.  The veterinarian clinic took us right in, and after exams, x-rays, and some pain meds, I learned about our newest rescue. She was 1.4 pounds and approximately 6 weeks old. She had a fracture on her palate that ran from just behind her front teeth back to her throat, with probable fractures in her sinus as well.  The cause? Someone had most likely thrown her out the window of a moving car, and she had hit the asphalt with her face. 

Five days later, little Miracle is doing so much better than we had thought she would! She is eating solid food mixed with milk replacer, and she’s using the litter box like a champ. Her eyes track our fingers, and her head moves toward sounds. John has made her a tiny tether ball that hangs from the top of her crate, and she is having a great time batting it around. Her coordination is definitely improving, and her strength is returning from what must have been full-body muscle bruises.  

Miracle will stay in our animal room infirmary until she sees the vet again in 10 days. If all looks good, we’ll move her into a larger crate in the Little Barn so that she can acclimate to her permanent home and her roommates ~ Echo, Tiger, Bella, Cricket, Mary, Betsie, and Wilma.  Until then, though, she will sleep beside two parakeets, watch a rabbit hop around the room, play through crate walls with a large Australian Shepherd, and heal.