Treble came to Lawrence Humane as part of a litter of stray kittens when he and his siblings were only one day old. They were then sent to an experienced foster home where they could be bottle fed every two hours, far from diseases, and be safely ensconced in an incubator. However, these wonderful fosters quickly realized that something was wrong with Treble. Whenever he’d eat, milk would come out of his nose. Not knowing exactly what was wrong, but knowing that indeed something WAS wrong, they brought him back to Lawrence Humane where our medical team discovered that Treble had both a slight cleft lip and a severe cleft palate. So while his siblings remained in the foster home, Treble stayed behind at Lawrence Humane so that our medical team could get a better understanding of his needs.
Treble was set up in an incubator in our veterinary clinic and our medical team began to tube feed him, making sure that tube feeding met his needs and he was stable before sending him to a different foster home. Luckily, Treble thrived being tube fed and over the course of the next five weeks as he was cared for by a foster that had been trained to safely tube feed, he continued to grow and meet all of the normal kitten developmental milestones! As Treble neared the 6-week mark, a time at which he would normally start trying to eat wet food, he was assessed by our friends at Companion Animal Dentistry, the specialists who would ultimately do the surgery to repair Treble’s cleft palate. They wanted him to wait until he was 6 months old to have the surgery, which brought up a very big question – how were we going to make sure that Treble was safely fed while he grew old enough for surgery?! As kittens develop sharp teeth, tube feeding becomes dangerous as they can bite the tube off. So how were we going to keep feeding Treble for the next 5 months?!
Luckily, we had knowledgeable and experienced partners we could ask for help! Founded by Hannah Shaw (better known as the Kitten Lady), Orphan Kitten Club is a nonprofit whose mission is to create a safer world for neonatal kittens by building and enhancing kitten programs throughout the country, offer lifesaving funding to shelter kittens in need of medical assistance, and provide dedicated specialty care in their San Diego based kitten nursery. Lawrence Humane has been a partner of OKC’s since 2021 and we all followed along as Hannah and the OKC team took on one of their most challenging cases ever – Chouchou, a kitten with a severe cleft palate that multiple vets said would be nearly impossible to keep alive until he was old enough surgery. But Hannah and the amazing OKC team got creative and came up with a method to save him! Chouchou was a groundbreaking success story and was published as a case study at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
We reached out to OKC for assistance, remembering Chouchou and how Hannah and her partners kept him fed while he grew old enough for his surgery. We are so, so thankful that they trusted us and shared the Chouchou Method with us! Shannon, our Executive Director, learned how to feed Treble using the Chouchou Method, and because of the extremely high stakes of trying this feeding method for the first time, she became his primary caregiver at that point. As Shannon and Treble’s comfort with the Chouchou Method grew, Treble gained two additional caregivers – Maddie, our Social Worker, and Tesla, our Foster Coordinator. These three dedicated staff members began to share custody of Treble, all becoming experts in the Chouchou Method!
Eventually Treble moved in full-time with our Social Worker, Maddie, who became his primary caregiver. Treble continued to thrive thanks to the Chouchou Method, growing like a weed and becoming best friends with his foster sister, Mabel (a pittie/mastiff mix, also adopted from Lawrence Humane). Finally, Treble was old enough for surgery, which was fully funded by a Mightycat grant from Orphan Kitten Club! His surgery was a success, with the specialist being able to fully close up Treble’s cleft palate! While Treble is still in our care, waiting for the specialist to determine when he can officially be cleared and made available for adoption, he has been neutered and is having the time of his life continuing to play all day with Mabel the pittie and snuggle all night with Maddie and her fiance, Manny. Best of all, Treble was THRILLED to get his first taste of wet food and was so exuberant about eating independently for the first time that he had to be held back so that he didn’t accidentally drown himself in the bowl! His enthusiasm for food knows no bounds these days and he is eagerly making up for the first 6 months of his life where he couldn’t taste a single morsel of food!
Neonatal kittens are the most vulnerable population in an animal shelter, and medically fragile kittens with special needs like Treble are even more vulnerable. In 2023, Lawrence Humane took in 1,033 kittens between the ages of 0 days (just born) to 4 months old. These kittens came in as either strays, surrendered by owners, brought in by Animal Control, transferred in from rural shelters, or were born to pregnant mama cats in our care. Of these 1,033 kittens, 167 were between the ages of 0 to 3 weeks, 183 were between the ages of 3 to 6 weeks, 128 were between the ages of 6 to 8 weeks, and 555 were between the ages of 2 to 4 months. Kittens between the ages of 0 to 8 weeks made up 46% of our kitten intake population in 2023 and 24% of our overall feline intake population in 2023.
It takes a LOT of resources to care for so many tiny, vulnerable lives, and we could not provide the utmost care to each and every one of the kittens that comes through our doors without the support of our partners, such as Orphan Kitten Club, Kitten Lady, and our incredible foster community! Without OKC, Kitten Lady, and our skilled and knowledgeable fosters, Treble would not be here today. But not only is he thriving today, but we now have one more life-saving tool in our kitten care toolbelt! Animal welfare can be scary and challenging, and trusted partnerships are often what bring hope and sunshine to dark times. Lawrence Humane has been a partner of Orphan Kitten Club since 2021 and in that time OKC has supported us with over $83,000 in grant funding to help us provide the best possible care for kittens in Douglas County.
We love this quote from Hannah Shaw, founder of OKC, about Treble and the impact that Chouchou’s case had on saving Treble’s life:
“Cases like this exemplify what Orphan Kitten Club is all about. We believe in the importance of innovation: that someone has got to go down the dark, unpaved path, and try to build a road. If you can build a road, then you create a road map. And you distribute that map, and you cheer others on as they bravely take the road for the first time. Heck, if you can, you put the fuel in their vehicle to get them there! And that’s how a dark space becomes a brightly lit, lifesaving pathway. That’s how we change the world. One kitten can create a map that saves many.”
We couldn’t agree more and look forward to saving more lives – together – in 2025!
