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Kitten found abandoned near Rimbey

Family rescue sick kitten
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What started out as an incredibly sad story did have a happy ending for a little kitten found abandoned, wet and cold near Rimbey.

Dana McDougall and her sons, Gus, 15, Grady, 12 and Geordie, eight were heading into Rimbey on a chilly, rainy Friday afternoon when they discovered the kitten.

Their vehicle was approaching the turnoff to Hwy. 20 when the occupants of the van spotted something in the middle of Nesbitt Lane (near Parkland Beach Road).

“It was just a little black shape and we were wondering what it was,” said McDougall.

When they drove closer they discovered a tiny, bedraggled kitten, meowing and frightened.

“She was frantic to be picked up. When we stopped and opened the door, she jumped right in.”

McDougall said the kitten was wet and her tail was full of burrs, but even worse, she was suffering from a prolapsed rectum.

“It was like she had this huge golf ball sized (object) hanging out of her hind end.”

Not be deterred from helping the sick kitten, one of the boys held the tiny creature on his lap, even though he discovered, much to his chagrin, she was also suffering from diarrhea.

Putting their original plans to go to the grocery store on hold, the family headed to Rimbey Vet Clinic to get the only to discover it was closed. However, there was a sign on the door with a number for emergency services in Red Deer.

They were able to contact a veterinarian so they headed to the city.

McDougall said the veterinarian was most compassionate and even offered to do the service for free if need be.

A few days later McDougall called the vet clinic and was assured the operation was successful. She was told that the SPCA had been contacted and the kitten placed with a rescue agency.

“It is a very happy ending,” she said. “The kitten was a sweetheart.”

Jeff Larsen, McDougall’s husband said he was angry that someone could abandon a sick animal.

“It was so little. It obviously couldn’t fend for itself.

The family, who live in Calgary and Parkland Beach, would have been happy to adopt the tortoiseshell kitten themselves, but they already own five cats and a dog.