A KITTEN CALLED PEANUT

Sometimes an exceptional cat or kitten arrives - they just touch everyone's heart.

“Peanut” was born one of seven - a very large litter for a small mother cat. We believed that she was the runt of the litter and that is why she wasn't getting food. Within hours of her arrival we realised that she couldn't suck so Christine Meakin offered to bottle feed her. This she did every two hours, then four hours, etc.

Due to a combination of the one-to-one, intense relationship that she had with Christine and her own sunny personality, she developed into the most intelligent, happy playful kitten. It was a few days later, as she grew, that we realised she had a lopsided face, squashed eye and still wasn't sucking. A quick trip to the vet resulted in a devastating diagnosis of a fused jaw. She couldn't suck at all. They operated and released the jaw. Veterinary Nurse Rachel took her home after the operation and looked after her over the bank holiday. She fell under her spell as Peanut weaved her magic.

On two occasions after this, her jaw re-fused so we searched the internet and found the most incredible man, Alex Smithson BVM&S MRCVS. Alex was a specialist in animal jaw problems and one of only four people in the country with this specialism. We rushed to Cheshire see him and he said he could help. However, he wanted Peanut to grow a bit more and preferably wait until her adult teeth started to show.

However, three days later the jaw fused again so we went back to Cheshire and left her for the operation.

Again her magic started and she charmed pet owners waiting in the vet surgery. One stranger even gave us £10 towards her care. Sadly, although the operation was a success - Alex even managed to straighten her nose - they couldn't reverse the anesthetic and Peanut didn't wake up.

John went to collect her the next day and all the staff at the Veterinary Hospital were choked as they talked about her. Such was the magic of Peanut that no-one charged anything for her care - Alex, the specialist; the hospital for x-rays etc., and the vet nurses gave their time completely free, as did Rachel, our vet nurse here in St Annes.

THE PEANUT FUND

In memory of Peanut, we have decided to continue with The Peanut Fund, which was started to raise money for her care. We will use it in exceptional cases. Money is always a problem and we have to make difficult decisions as to just what we can manage to pay for sick cats. If you would like to donate to this fund, you can either do this through PayPal, on our Make a Donation page, or by sending a cheque or postal order made payable to Cat Rescue (Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde) to the address on our contacts page. In either case, please state that you want the donation to go The Peanut Fund. Thank you.

As of mid-October 2011, the Peanut Fund stands at £690. Joan Partridge, one of our trustees and cattery volunteer has donated £20 in memory of Ermine, Amy and Spicey, our precious feral cats who are no longer with us. You can read the poem on our Rainbow Bridge page.

The first recipients of the Fund will be Faith and Hope, our two rescue girls, who have tested positive for feline leukemia. When we secure a pemanent foster home for them, the fund will provide a run so that they can have secure access to the garden.

AND FINALLY

Peanut's story is such a sad story but it is heart-warming as well. She was very lucky - Christine to love and hand rear her, Siuna Reid, our vet, to have the expertise to deal with such a minute kitten, Rachel to take care of her in her own home after two operations, Alex for his skill and dedication and all the staff at the Woodford Veterinary Group.

Bless everyone and especially Peanut for being Peanut.

THE PEANUT DIARY

Peanut's jaw has started to fuse again so she is back to see the consultant Vet on Tuesday. We may have to leave her there for a major operation. At the moment she is eating OK and is playing with her siblings like any normal cat - she is just so tiny.

We think she will be at vets for a good few days, if he decides to operate. However, we are hoping that, by Tuesday, it wont have tightened up again and they can leave her so she can grow more before the next op.

Cat Rescue

25 June 2011

We took Peanut to see the consultant Vet in Cheshire last week and spent all day there. Basically, we are going to try and wait until her adult teeth grow. This may be be as late as 5/6 months for her. The Vet will then decide what to do - it's likely he remove part of her jaw but definitely he will undertake a number of operations to sort out her teeth.

The current problem is that, because she is so small, there are no instuments that the Vet can use to operate. If her jaw freezes up, he could break her jaw - but that would be a last ditch action. Christine M is being taught how to massage Peanut's jaw and chin and we have to develop ways to get her to pull at food, which is more important than chewing, which she is now doing almost as well as a normal cat.

Cat Rescue

22 June 2011

Peanut has been to our Vets for checkup. Her jaw had fused again so they have freed it. We are stretching her jaw to stop it fusing again but it does hurt the little mite. She is being taken to an orthopaedic facia dental consultant, in Cheshire, on Tuesday. This is to see if he can make something small enough to fit her mouth that can be manually altered weekly. Our Vet thinks this will be less traumatic for the kitten.

If the consultant can do anything, he will keep her there and operate that day or Wednesday.

Please will everyone pray for her.

Cat Rescue

19 June 2011

Peanut has increased her weight and is now 480gm. Her siblings are 1110gm so she is catching up.

She has had a quick trip to the vets. Head vet Siuna gave her a quick shot of gas and air whilst she manipulated her jaw to stop it re-fusing. As Peanut is so young she is growing rapidly so her jaw had started to fuse again. She is staying at veterinery nurse Rachael's house for the weekend, to allow her jaw to be gently moved very, very frequently. On Monday she will return to work with Rachael and then we will be taught how to do it ourselves. We also have to encourage her to eat hard food, to keep the jaw mobile.

Peanut is playing at the house and eating for England. Christine Meakin, her foster ‘Mum’, is missing her but accepts the necessity. The next hurdle for Peanut is her first vaccination.

Watch this space.

Cat Rescue

10 June 2011

Peanut is now doing everything a normal kitten does! The cat with her is her brother, so you can see how tiny she is for her age.

Cat Rescue

3 June 2011

Peanut has had her operation she is at home with senior vet nurse. This morning she lapped some milk.

The Vet let us go through whilst Peanut was in recovery and you realised just how small she is. She had a tube inserted into the vein of one leg, giving food and drugs. Her mouth was wedged open and they were moving her jaw every few minutes to get it into the right position. The nurse will continue to do this for three more 3 days.

Cat Rescue

28 May 2011

Peanut at four weeks

Still with us, still tiny but what a personality! She has been diagnosed with a frozen jaw and other health issues. Her foster mum, Christine Meakin, has cared for her since she was 2 days old. As Peanut is in no pain or discomfort, indeed is happy and contented, we are continuing to try and help her. This involves Christine feeding her every 2 hours during day and 3 to 4 hours in the night. Our hope is that whilst she can't suckle she will be able to lap and feed. She is washing her paws after being fed so we are quetly hopeful. The minute Peanut hears Christine's voice she looks and calls for her ‘mum’, without whom she would not be alive.

Her siblings are Hannah's Kittens who were very large at birth and are really huge kittens (see Hannah's Kittens)

Years ago some of you may remember a tiny kitten named Titch, a pure white tiny creature who was thought to be 6 weeks old when she was found but was actually nearer 5 months. With care, Titch grew to normal size, so fingers crossed for little Peanut.

6 May 2011

First report on Peanut

Being born is traumatic for a human or any other animal. In Catherine's (aka Peanut) case, she was the last of a litter of seven kittens to be born and whilst she is normal size, her siblings are HUGE. She didn't stand a chance of getting a turn to feed off Hannah, her mum, so we collected her and our Christine Meakin voluntered to be her foster mum.

Peanut is being fed every ninety minutes during the day and every two hours at night. Soon we will extend the hours between feeds, to give Christine a chance to get some sleep. Hand rearing a kitten is a thrilling and rewarding experience but it requires dedication, determination and stamina. An element of luck is also necessary because such kittens can die due to a phenominum known as Failing Kitten Syndrome. This usually happens when they are very young but it can also happen as old as seven weeks or more. Feeding is only half the care needed. they also have to be kept warm and clean and the latter is problematical.

Everything looks promising at the moment because Peanut is keeping her milk down and is managing to wee and (even more importantly) to poo. So watch this space!