December 2010 Pet of the Month - Chance Lighter

This is the amazing story of Chance. 

 At the beginning of summer, my husband and I wanted to plant some trees on our property. I went out one morning to buy the trees.  My initial plan was to go to Lowe's Garden Center, but for some reason, as I drove by, I was compelled to go to Farm & Fleet. When I arrived, the store was not to open for another 15 minutes. Again I felt compelled to sit and wait rather than just leaving.

I picked out my trees and waited for the girls who worked there to check me out, but they were distracted by something.... One of them reached down into a nursery pot full of rainwater from the night before, and picked up a tiny little 3 week old kitten that had been floating in the cold water. He appeared to be dead, and he smelled terrible, as the water was polluted and foul. There were no other cats or kittens around and it is a mystery why he was there.

"He's still alive!" said one of the girls, "But just barely..." I reached out and took him in my hands and could feel a slight heartbeat, but he was unconscious and cold, and so very tiny. He was so dehydrated that his eyes were sunken in. "I'll take him." I said as I wondered how this was going to work out. We already have quite a large family of cats but I was not about to walk away from this little soul who needed a chance to live.

At home, my husband was as concerned as I was that this little kitten might not survive. We cleaned him up, got him warm and began with drops of Pedialyte on his tongue to get some fluids in him. He remained only semiconscious for the better part of the day and I was sure he was going to die.

Drops of kitten formula were placed on his tongue one at a time and I held him and stayed up with him most of the night and he regained consciousness the next morning and began devouring the formula. Within a few more days he was gaining strength. The rest, as they say, is history.

As for his name, it was "chance" that I went to that particular store that day, "chance that I didn't leave before they opened, and "chance" that he was found at that moment, still barely alive. So his name had to be Chance.

Chance is a very affectionate, playful little guy and is interested in everything! He gets along with all the other cats and loves his teddy bear, which he slept with as a tiny kitten, in place of the mother cat.