Davenport pet shelter works to save kitten found nearly frozen
A kitten found nearly frozen in the Quad Cities is slowly being nursed back to health, thanks to King’s Harvest Pet Rescue.
Chip, a tiny kitten in the fight for his life, has been in the care of King’s Harvest, Davenport, since he was discovered. Not only was his temperature dangerously low, but he also was severely underweight, and he has a respiratory infection.
“He was actively dying when we found him,” Assistant Director Andrea Gaskin said. “That’s a very dangerously-low temperature for a kitten to have.”
A vet technician began life-saving measures as soon as Chip came to King’s Harvest.
“There was a fear that he would not make it,” Gaskin said. “He was very sick when he came in. He was obviously in shock. He wasn’t moving a lot. He wasn’t making a sound. She worked on saving that kitten for two hours. She worked really hard on getting his temperature up.”
The technician helped keep Chip warm with heating pads and blankets, and he was given antibiotics for the infection.
“He’s on medication right now for an upper respiratory infection and were finally getting him eating,” Gaskin said. “He just has crusty eyes, a runny nose and his breathing is a little labored. On top of all that being frozen, severely underweight, he has a cold.”
Chip has gained a couple of ounces since being found, but still has a long way to go.
“We’re really happy because he is finally moving around a little. His personality is kind of coming out,” Gaskin said. “For the first two days, he was really in survival mode. We were struggling to get him to eat. He was overcoming the upper respiratory infection, but now were able to pick him up and give him attention and he loves it. Were just working on helping him gain weight right now and getting over the upper respiratory infection.”
Shelter staff do not know when Chip will be available for adoption, especially because they want to play it safe.
“He is not yet available for adoption because we do want to make sure he is healthy and neutered before we send him out,” Gaskin said. “Unfortunately, that is going to be a long road to recovery but once he’s there he will find his home.”
To see pets currently available for adoption at King’s Harvest, click here.
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