Foster Kitten Chronicles: Killian the Kitten

If you follow me on Instagram you have probably already seen my new foster kitten Killian.
Killian is named after the character of Captain Hook on the TV show Once Upon a Time. I think it fit him perfectly because although he is missing a limb he is still a tough little pirate cat!

Kilian came in to the shelter a hot mess. He required a leg amputation immediately. Not only is he getting used to only having 3 legs, his back leg on the same side is also injured. On top of that the little man has a pretty bad kitty cold. But he is quite the trooper! He is doing really well learning how to walk around with just his 3 legs.

His back foot is sometimes a little bloody and full of puss, so he wears a little baby mitten to keep it covered but it's loose enough that the wound can still breath!

When he came to the shelter they suspected that he was feral. He was definitely not used to humans. When I brought him home he never came out of his kennel and hissed at me every time I was near him.

He was so scared his first day

Unfortunately he required medicine 2x a day as well as attention to his foot, so he'd continue to have some negative experiences with me. So I decided to use a technique I learned about at school. It's a pretty basic concept but makes all the difference. The idea is to provide at least 3 good experiences for every bad. So I would open the kennel and spend time petting him and loving on him or feeding him and do nothing else. I would do this a couple times over some time before it was time for me to administer medications or tend to his foot. This really seemed to help and he started warming up to me and really didn't mind when I did have to provide treatments to him. He is now a lap cat! He loves to snuggle with me!