Meet Barley Poppet

I have been meaning to blog about her for awhile but when you have just rescued a most adorable feral kitten, time gets away from you in leaps and bounds!

Barley's story:
On the night of October 6 I was woken up with cat crying - loud cat crying. I figured it was one of the ferals the neighbor next door feeds and didn't think much of it.  But I kept hearing it during the next day so I went out to investigate and a very small kitten darted past me as I was looking for it.  My heart broke.

For the next few days my neighbor and I tried everything we could to find and catch her and also to be sure she was abandoned and that her Mom wasn't around somewhere. But we knew she was alone in our hearts - kittens don't cry like that when there is a Mom around.  With cold weather coming I knew I had to get her so I bought a catch and release trap, filled it with cat food and hoped with all my heart she would get it and not the ferals or racoons.

I watched a bird cam for 5 hours until she showed up - held my breathe and cheered loudly when she took the bait and walked into the trap!  Having nothing to actually house a small, feral and very scared kitty, we dashed to Petco to get a small crate and bedding and the tiniest litter box I have ever seen. The last photo up there is Barley the first night inside.  

I got her to the vet and she was properly looked over. Healthy heart, lungs and tummy but she did have ringworm so I had to keep her away from everything which, let me tell you, is HARD.   She ate like a champ and it took about a week for her to really trust that she was safe here.

She has had a few ringworm baths which I am sure I ended up more wet than she did.  She had her recheck last night and I am waiting to hear the results.  It is so hard to have her segregated because over the past few days she has blossomed with love and trust.  She purrs so hard she rumbles and she gives out the sweetest squeaky mews now.

The photos above are in order of newest to oldest and you can see how much healthier she looks. The ringworm on her nose is gone and its all pink now. The vet said she had new hair growth as well.  She was estimated at 6 weeks and was 1.60 pounds on her first vet visit. She is now 2.63 pounds and doing so wonderfully!

I got her a kitten playpen so she had some running room (there is no one room she can be kept in so its in the kitchen) and I do some serious cleaning daily.  I take her into the bathroom and dress is long sleeves and gloves so we can play a bit and I can comb her - she loves the loves.

She has a most wonderful and sweet personality and I cannot wait to get her out of that bounce house and into a bigger room.

Barley got her name because I sent a very dark webcam photo and asked if they could see her in it. The reply was supposed to be "barely," but the misspelled Barley ended up being perfect! She was barely there!    Everyone at her vet thanked me for doing this - for saving her life and keeping her. Just look at that face... how could I not?