Kyuen (Japanese for “rescue”) is a male Siamese kitten who is approximately 10-12 weeks old. On August 4th, He was found at Dick’s RV covered in tar. Although we don’t know at this time exactly what happened to him, there is no doubt this little kitten endured a horrific experience.
Getting him cleaned up was a slow, arduous, multi-day process but the vet team says he is a patient little trooper. His skin is sensitive and he gets cold easily so the veterinary team works on him bit by bit, giving him baths about every three hours, and taking breaks to put him in a warming cage to warm him back up when he becomes too cold. He is taking it like a champ though and enjoying his tasty snacks in the process. After three days of cleaning, he still has a ways to go, but the vet does not see evidence of burns from the tar at this time.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, on August 8th, we received the devastating news from our vet that Kyuen was not doing well and at 3:49 AM the following morning we received a call that he would not make it. Elaine went to Big Sky to be with Kyuen as he was helped to pass. Although there was not blistering and immediate evidence of burns initially, the vet said that he did end up having thermal burns over a large portion of his body and sadly his tiny body was unable to recover from them.
Was he born a stray, or was he allowed to free roam? We will probably never know. What we do know though is that his pain and suffering could have been prevented through responsible pet ownership. His mother could have been spayed, preventing tiny Kyuen from having to fight to survive on his own outdoors or possibly even given away for free to someone who had malicious intent. If he had been owned and was allowed to free roam, this horrible atrocity could have so easily been prevented by just keeping him indoors. Cats don’t “need” to go outdoors. Keeping them in saves their lives from experiences like these. We also can’t help but wonder, was he the only kitten this happened to? Or did he have siblings who were not so lucky to escape and find help?
