Going Bananas for a Very Special Kitten

Aug 05, 2016

A Guest Post by Ranelle Meroney

Banana is a super cat - as in, “Supercat”! She came to the APA! nursery at 4 weeks old with a gruesome facial injury; a degloving of her lower lip, a swollen jaw and nose, and a runny eye. She was dehydrated and covered with ringworm. She was alone and afraid.

We don't know what happened to her; in these cases, we usually don't. I am a volunteer feeder and that's where I first met her. Feeding tiny kittens with facial injuries can be very difficult - she had to be fed with a syringe slipped through her teeth on the left side. Her mouth looked horrible and she was groggy from pain medication. But she soon learned to eat by herself, got over her initial fear, and developed quite a fan club!

Brian Routson, Neonatal Program Operations Assistant, recalls Banana: "She is a big sweetheart. If I were looking to adopt a cat, she would be one of the first I look at. When she first came to the nursery, she was timid and frightened of people due to her recent trauma. Within a couple days, she embraced interaction with people and was on a great path to recovery. She ate very well and loved cuddling. Banana was missed after leaving the nursery for a foster home.”



I often foster ringworm kittens; I was taking another group of ringworm kittens and asked to take Banana, too, because she seemed so lonely and was looking too big for the nursery. I knew she could eat and the only special care she needed was Yesterday's News litter, as regular litter stuck to her wound if she hung out in the litter box (as many cats and kittens do). It turned out that the other group of kittens did not have ringworm, so I had to keep her separate and she was still alone. I asked the Cat Foster Manager if she knew of a potential buddy and along came Velveeta, a singleton recovering from ringworm.  He and Banana hit it off and are still best friends today!

When I first took Banana to the medical clinic I asked if anything could be done for her appearance; if maybe she could have plastic surgery to repair the skin still hanging off her mouth. But the answer was no, because there was no medical reason for surgery. I thought she would always look grotesque, and hoped that someone would look beyond that, love her, and adopt her.

But Banana wasn't done being Supercat! Her mouth continued to heal, and today you have to look closely to see any sign of injury! She is a superhero survivor.

Banana loves attention and cuddling, and purrs like a lawn mower! She is almost completely clear of ringworm and has quite silky fur. She is fearless and loves other cats; she could do well with kids, too. I have not seen her around dogs but I bet she would adjust to any home as long as she is loved and cuddled!

If you would like to learn more about Banana, check out her profile page and write [email protected] to meet her and her foster!