12 Saves of 2023 #10: Strawberry Mimosa
Have you ever stopped to think about how resilient cats and kittens can be? It surprises us daily, yet really, with 20 years of lifesaving experience, it shouldn’t. We would probably never survive some of the things our cats and kittens endure. The miraculous thing is that they don’t just survive these things.
They fight through them. They love through them. They thrive through them.
In just a few short weeks we had an overwhelming number of cats and kittens who needed us—more so than others. One of them was little Strawberry Mimosa.
She arrived as a fragile, newborn kitten, along with several siblings. For the most part, she looked OK, but one of her tiny legs was shorter than the others. We needed to see how it progressed, so for now we would care for her just as we would any other newborn—with around-the-clock feedings and lots of TLC.
Strawberry Mimosa immediately showed us her big personality. Nothing would hold her back. That was visible from her very first screeching cry!
Over the coming weeks, she grew normally, just like her siblings, except that her leg remained the same. It was shorter than the others, and she only had two toes on that foot. We had our veterinarian keep a close eye on it, but there appeared to be no injury, and nothing wrong. It seemed that little Strawberry Mimosa just had a birth defect.
As she grew, that personality shined. She has a zest for life, adventure, and friends. She loves her siblings, fellow foster kittens, and everyone around her. We think she decided early on that no matter what she looked like she was going to embrace life as it is.
Strawberry Mimosa is one of many who we get the honor of caring for. She did the hard part. She survived. Her resilience is what we do this for. She teaches us how to be better, how to not give up, and how to love wholeheartedly.
Every cat we see is treated as an individual. Strawberry Mimosa is one of the lucky ones, yet she still needed us. She may not have made it if she didn’t come to us—so thankfully, she did.
Christmas is almost here, and we certainly hope you left room to give a gift to cats this year. Strawberry Mimosa was thankful to have you in 2023; let’s see how many cats we can help in 2024.
Warm wishes for a wonderful holiday and thank you for always keeping FieldHaven on your list of gifts.
Happiest of PAWlidays,
– Joy Smith, executive director of FieldHaven
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P.S. Thanks to you, Strawberry Mimosa is thriving. She is expected to have a normal life, and we know she’ll continue to be an example of resilience, strength, and joy to those around her. Your donations always make an incredible impact, and we know she is grateful. Thank you for thinking of FieldHaven this holiday season.
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