That is what I was chanting over and over to myself this afternoon on the I-5 Freeway as I watched one of the kittens I was taking to be looked over for adoption go into heatstroke. Cagney was in a large carrier with her sister Sophie. Jordan was in the backseat in her carrier and Chauncey was also along for the ride. All the other cats and kittens were doing fine except for Cagney. Cag was clawing at the bars of the carrier, open mouth panting. When I stuck my fingers in between the bars to see if I could touch her ears, I became more alarmed- they were on fire! I couldn’t understand it. It was 63 degrees outside but I didn’t have the car heater on- and to make matters worse, I was on a portion of the freeway with NO exits for a few miles. I turned the ac on full blast and propped the carrier up higher to catch the air.
I finally made it to an exit and raced into a fast food restaurant with a limp kitten in my hands. A worker saw me with the cat and yelled at me “Hey no animals allowed” but her words fell on deaf ears as I shut the bathroom door behind me and started to fill up the bathroom sink with lukewarm water. I slowly lowered Cag’s body into the water and I was crying to God thinking I had killed this little girl. The worker came in behind me and she was saying something again about animals being prohibited, but when she saw what was going on, she stood still and said “Can I do anything?” I asked for some sort of a rag, towel anything so I could get water on the head. In a few minutes she was back and I soaked the rag and placed it on Cag’s head and just held it. Thankfully, she started stirring, showing life and gasping for breath. I picked her up by her back legs and holding her firmly, I swung her up in the air and back down between my legs (much like you do to a kitten who is aspirating on liquids) on the second trip, she was Cagney again, but she was shivering. I wrapped her up in a second rag that just appeared and cuddled her close. She started to meow but nothing came out. She was spent and I was exhausted.
I finally put her back in another carrier in the car and started off again but when I was once again stuck in traffic (this time by the Portland Airport) I looked over at her and she was open-mouth breathing again! I was about 20 minutes from where I needed to be, so I called the person involved in the adoption and asked that they please have on hand a bowl of cool water and a washrag when we arrived. Bless his heart, he was ready for us and was even standing outside the residence so I could find the house quicker.
Cag is fine now. In fact, she slept all the way home as if nothing happened? They really liked her too- but I told them she was off the adoption list right now until I could get her home and be sure she is okay. Like I said, all the other cats are fine.
Jordan got adopted! It was a first for me, and elderly woman was interested in Jordan, but Jordan had peed on the way up (it was a 2 hour drive) and she didn’t smell that pleasant. I ended up giving her a bath and brushing her dry and Dorothy decided to adopt her. We put her into the sewing room and the first thing she did was vanish from sight behind a file cabinet. I have no doubt she is going to hide. She hid from me. she hid from a friend of mine who kept her for me for about a month- but eventually, she came out and was a total lovebug. As I told Dorothy, I wish I had instant kittens, but I don’t. You just have to be patient and let them figure out they are safe without crowding them. Hopefully, in a few days, she will come out and become another loved member of that household.
