Wednesday afternoon there's an urgent knock at the door
Dakota, the girl who lives next door says Laurie! Mom found a kitty!

Ooooh no, no no no I can not more cats, nope nope nope

Misty (Dakota's mom) comes into view with a really little creature in her hands as the kids at my door chime in asking if I can somehow help..

Misty what the hell is that?

A kitten.. the poor thing is frozen solid, its blind and it can't breathe, I dont know what to do..

I cant have that in here..

But it's dying.. it's going to die.

Damnit.. sigh no, it isn't, give it here..

I took this little ball of ice cold fluff from Misty and the Dakota's little brother who also arrived at my door says Lowee he either cant or wont say Laurie you not mad are you? and I said

Only if I don't try little man, if I don't try, then I'd be really mad at me.

And with that the journey of the frozen stray begins.

I've rescued a lot of animals, and of course there were a few that were entering their eleventh hour before but nothing like this..

Eyes matted shut, frozen shut, fighting through constant sneezing, wheezing and snuffling to get a small breath of air. It was frail, so frail.. it could not support the weight of its own head. When I lifted it's head with my finger to see if that might make it easier for the little thing to breathe, I could feel every bone and vertebrae which sent a shudder down my spine. There was some muscle control but not much and I assume because of it's weakened state and when it opened its mouth no sound came out. After taking a closer look at the tiny life I held in my hands, I had about zero confidence I could even get this little one through the next hour, let alone save it.

Jesus Mary and Joseph what have I gotten myself into.. Hey Siri, how do you help a kitten who's eyes are matted shut.. Hey Siri, text Dean.. Hey Siri, whats the number to the vet clinic.. Hey Siri, what can you do for a kitten with a cold in their eyes.. Hey Siri, text Linda.. Hey Siri, what percentage of saline solution.. Hey Siri, is saline the same as salt water? Salt water?!! I'm trying to save the eyes, not permanently blind this thing Hey Siri, text Chanda.. Hey Siri, how do I make milk for abandoned kittens.. Hey Siri, can kittens digest makerel.. Hey Siri ..

Siri was busy for several hours.

I tried to stay awake for this terrified little guy but drifted off and when I woke up with a start, I couldn't find him at first, he doesn't make any noise at all, but when I did, I almost burst into tears. He was laying on the towel near the barricade I set up to keep him in the living room in a basket. There was almost no life left in his frail little body, he couldn't lift his head at all, and was hardly able to gasp for air. I knew he was at the crossroads - my heart felt like it was in a vice.

With tears in my eyes I picked him up, lightly stroked his chin and as they spilled down my face I quietly barganed with the Creator asking him to please let this little one stay, to give me a chance against the odds stacked up against such a tiny creature promising to find an amazing forever home with all the milk he could drink if God would please give me a little more time.

Anyone who saw this creature said it was hopeless. I decided the best way to prove them wrong I was going to give this little one a name - I decided on Sneezer.

For days I soaked his crusted over face with microfiber washcloths from the dollar store. I bought every one they had, there was so much infection I refused to reuse them. I got ahold of Linda who runs a rehab for pets and she got me some amox for kittens but even she didn't hold much hope for survival.

It took awhile but finally the matted gunk let loose but that only showed grey/red almost cherry eye looking things that turned out to be infection under the eyelids. I am so glad I never tried to force them open, I would have freaked with everything else wrong in the beginning, hell I almost freaked seeing it as it was.

For example, I got 4 kitten bottles from the vet clinic and Sneezer literally ate the nipples. So I went back to the dollar store and bought ketchup dispensers (harder plastic) which surprisingly worked. Sneezer doesnt remember how to suckle but licking the drops of milk worked out fine.

Couple days later the right eye's infection was down quite a bit but that was not encouraging, the eye itself was covered with a grey shroud, a red dot where the puple should be. Then the left eye's infection pouch went down enough to see a blue tone.. this told me the kitten was around 4 weeks, maybe 5 and there was a chance to save the vision in the eye.

With both eyes finally open he started getting more active, following the shadows of toys and the other cats around. He's lost the vision in the one eye but after a week has gained full use of the other. As of today although he is blind in one eye and still doesn't have much of a voice, he's as much a kitten as a kitten can be. Once I've gotten him completely over the sneezing cold thats still hanging around, his forever home has been chosen (by him) where he will be king of the castle. (I'll be checking in quite frequently on that)

There's one other thing about Sneezer that I couldn't believe - he's a 1 percenter. Sneezer's what they call a tortise tabby, the "M" on his forehead is quite prominent as are the 4 or 5 colours that qualify him as a tortise. His survival was a miracle and him being a male tortise tabby only reinforces just how special miracles can be.