Hachi, the kitten who changed our lives

by Taskina
(Bangladesh)

Hachi, my 9 months old kitten, makes me look back to the day when I first met her ... 8 months back my youngest sister in law came to my room and asked if I had any dropper. I was curious, and on enquiry she told me she saw a kitten this afternoon lying by the street, nearly dying of hunger. She was so thin and so weak that she couldn't even walk! So she brought her home. I went to see the kitty and at once remembered my cat who died 5 years back. For the next few days Hachi stayed in our garage and used to mew at anyone who passed by. After about 10 days I gave her a bath and brought her to my room. At once she won the heart of my husband who was just not ready to send her back to the garage! So Hachi stayed. With us. In our bed. 2 months passed. She grew closer to us. Won't eat unless one of us is present. Started mewing early in the morning to get into my bed. Snuggled onto us while we're fast asleep. Then suddenly her hind legs became paralysed. Dunno how or why. Visited the local vet, but you know how they are in a developing country like ours. He kept advising me on rabies vaccines without paying much attention to our Hachi. Both me and my hubby are doctors and were post grad trainees at that time. We did not give up. We searched the internet, learned how to care for her including manual evacuation of bowel and bladder, and now our Hachi is a perfectly happy kitten of 9 months. At present we are attending our course classes at the medical university. We shifted here 3 months back and brought Hachi along... We just can't live without her. Our family members miss her a lot too... I wish I could do more for her and make her walk on all fours once again... But at least she's a happy kitten, and we love her more than anything else.