Church, a 10-month-old, bi-color Persian, deserves ap-paws for surviving a horrific accident at eight-weeks of age. The healthy kitten was sleeping when a 160-pound human tripped and landed on the fur baby.
“Church was lifeless; only breathing four breaths per minute,” described his adopted mother, Heather. “The breeder immediately placed him in a neonatal incubator. Her quick action saved his life.
The previous happy-bouncy kitten’s motor skills were left spastic and unregulated. His right side was weak, his adorable furry head tilted to the left, and his right eye had no blink reflex. He was unable to move and was syringe fed.
It was a miracle survival. To everyone’s greatest hope and prayers he began eating and drinking on his own. After a month, he could pick up his head. Then he gingerly stepped out of the incubator like he’d spent the last month in it on a drinking binge. THEN! Unbelievably, the wobbly-tilted headed kitten began chasing and playing with his siblings!”
The miracle kitten, named after Stephen King's Pet Cemetery novels' cat, Church, was adopted a month later by Heather.
“I’m a natural nurturer,” said Heather. “When I was young, my mother said that at a pet-store I'd empathetically want to adopt the fish floating at the top of the tank ‘to help’ it. Church melted my heart. Adopting him was easy; and like him, I held the same faith that he could improve. Everyone is amazed what this tiny, adorable, determined kitten has heroically accomplished.”
“My home is carpeted, which helped Church’s traction to rebuild his strength,” explained Heather. “Slowly but surely, his coordination improved. Today, you’d never know that he was brought back from the brink of death by his sheer willpower to live. Even though his head tilt has disappeared, his right eye still doesn’t blink. It takes him longer to figure how to accomplish things, but he succeeds. He runs, climbs, jumps, and is the ultimate love bug and lap cat. He will never be
totally coordinated; but his confidence, purr-severance and ability to figure out how to live inspires us all. Paws-ibly because we wish we had his inner determination to achieve so many life goals.”
Each week, Heather and her kitten drive three hours between their two homes.
“Church sleeps comfortably in his carrier because he knows that each trip is an adventure and won't end up at a vet clinic. He also loves riding in his backpack when we hike,” said Heather. “He is harness-trained and tethered in the pack. His favorite thing to do leashed is chase bugs and stock birds on our 19 acres.
Every day, his crazy-kitten antics make me laugh. At bedtime, he plops himself across my neck (his favorite spot). Sometimes, in the wee hours of the morning after a midnight house inspection, he returns to the bedroom yowling his arrival. He then flops his furry butt across my face. He also has the loudest purr that makes my heart purr, but he has introduced me to kitty-induced insomnia.
Church has made me a life-long member of the ‘mutual admiration and affectionate kitten club’ whose motto is ‘Purr-severe. This amazing teen-kitty reminds everyone struggling with traumas, depression and other difficult issues not to give up and keep moving forward, especially during these trying times.”
