How Mr. Lucky got lucky

Posted bydtravelsroundPosted inAsia, Blog, Expat Life, Thailand, TravelTags:, , ,

I have a bleeding heart. If you know me, you know this.

And, on my third day in Chiang Mai, this bleeding little heart is tested.

“Hi,” a couple says, walking up quietly to the large crop of desks inside the Elephant Nature Park office. “We found a kitten and wanted to let you know … it’s down the street … it doesn’t look good. Do you want to go and get it and bring it back here?”

I try to mind my own business as I sit on the other side of the desk, but when I hear the words “kitten” and “doesn’t look good” my ears immediately perk up.

“Oh noooo,” says Patty, who runs the office. “That’s not good.”

Silence.

“Diana, you go with them and see where the kitten is ka,” she says to me.

Me?

Charged with the task, I leave my laptop and follow the couple down the street, crossing over the moat which surrounds the old city of Chiang Mai and through Thaepae Gate.

“We saw it and tried to give it milk, but it just sat huddled in a corner, not moving much,” the girl says.

When we come to the kitten, my heart breaks.

Under a metal bench of some sort, I see him. Squatting down. Oh-so thin. Shaking. His orange and white fur is a shade of gray from the pollution. His leg looks a bit deformed. His one eye is cloudy.

My heart breaks.

“I … I … don’t know what to do,” I tell them. What am I supposed to do? Take him back to the office? “Let me call Patty.”

So, I get her on my phone and she tells me to call the park and the volunteer who runs the dog shelter. On the phone with her, I nearly burst into tears.

“We can’t save every street cat in Chiang Mai,” she explains, but I can hear it in her voice. Don’t give up … yet.

Then, I fight for the little guy.

“He just looks so scared. So sick. We can’t take him?”

“Well … look at him with me,” she says, quickly succumbing to my desperation at saving the sickly creature.

I scoop him up in my hand, report to her that he has pink gums, no fleas, a big belly.

“OK … what you can do … if you want … is take him to the vet and see what is wrong with him. You will have to pay for it. Then, if he is OK, I think we can take him up at the park.”

My heart thumps happy.

I leave the couple and scoop his tiny, shaking body into my arms and nuzzle him in my neck as I head back to the office, trying desperately to shield him from the puttering tuk tuks, the thick humidity and the smell of diesel fume that winds its way up my nose.

I try to get a red bus to the vet, but instead, one of the staffers tells me she can take me on her motorbike.

I freeze with fear. I’m scared to death of motorbikes, even though I have been on them before. Here, in Thailand, where you have to always be mindful of getting knicked by one, the idea of holding a kitty and clinging to someone driving sends me into a near panic.

“Don’t worry,” she says to me soothingly. “I will drive good. I promise.”

So, I put the kitten in a cardboard box and hop on the back of her motorbike.

“It is OK if I hold on to you?” I ask, voice shaky.

“Yes, of course.”

And then, we are off into traffic. I try to move as little as possible. At red lights, I peer into the box and talk sweetly to the kitten who has ceased his little meows and traded them for hisses.

“I know, I know,” I whisper to him, wishing with all the world that he will calm down.

When we arrive to the vet, they peel the box from my arms and take him into a room where they examine him.

Mr. Lucky at the vet
Just rescued from the street, Mr. Lucky heads to the vet’s office.

“He very sick,” the vets says once she is done. “He need lot of medicine.”

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask.

“Don’t know, but we do test to see. He stay overnight. Expensive.”

I’ve come this far.

“Do what you have to do,” I say, feeling myself give in to this little life I am trying desperately to save.

She does one blood test as I stand in the doorway, watching him cower on the metal table.

“Oh no, it no look good,” she says, furrowing her brow and casting a sympathetic glance in my direction. “He has parvo. Very sick. May not live.”

I stand there. I can feel the tears coming. I can feel them wanting to leak out of my eyes in front of these strangers. Although it has been less than an hour since he entered my life, he’s already touched it.

I don’t want him to die.

“What do you need to do?”

“He stay overnight for a few night, we give him medicine and get him to eat soft food,” she says.

“I can’t spend the money on him unless I know he has a chance at life,” I explain, wanting her to know if his chances are slim that he will make it, I cannot afford to pay the bill.

“He may make it, depend on immune system,” she says.

I hand over my credit card and let them swipe it.  It’s not nearly as expensive as a vet in America, but it is pricey for someone who has just moved to Thailand and found a street cat.

“What his name?” She asks me before I leave.

“I don’t know,” I say, not wanting to name him and get attached to this little puff of cat.

“He Mr. Lucky,” she says. “Mr. Lucky because you found him.”

That night, she calls to report to me his condition. “He poo poo a little. He eat a little. He take medicine. Call you tomorrow night unless he get worse.”

The next night, she calls me to report that he is getting better slowly.

And, the night after, I head to the vet to go and see him.

“He would have died had you not found him,” she says as I stroke his little body in my arms. “He very sick. Mom and brothers and sisters probably dead. He would have died in days if not treated. Mr. Lucky? He very lucky.”

Mr. Lucky stays a few more nights at the vet and is then taken up to Elephant Nature Park to finish the de-worming (because he has that, too) and finish his treatment for parvo.

Mr. Lucky slowly gets better.
Still so tiny and fitting into the palm of my hand.

When I head to the park a few days later, the first thing I do is go and see him. He’s quarantined and when I step inside the room, my heart melts.

“Mr. Lucky,” says the volunteer who took him in, “Look who is here to see you.”

From under newspapers, he pokes his little head out and meows. Then, he is in my arms again, purring.

His belly is still a bit swollen from the worms, but he looks a million times better than he did when I first rescued him.

“Hey little guy,” I whisper to him, nuzzling his little body in my face. “You look so good.”

We snuggle for a few minutes before I put him back into his cage and I disinfect myself so as not to get the other animals at the park sick.

Mr. Lucky is an adorable sleeping cat
A little purr machine, and then Mr. Lucky passes out in my arms.

A week later, I head to see him again. This time, he is out of quarantine and hanging in a cage. He mews when he sees me and then, as soon as he is in my arms, crawls up to my neck and tucks his tiny body there, softly purring.

I walk away from his cage and find a secluded spot on a bench. We sit together for 30 minutes. A wave of happy rushes over me as he lays on me.

I saved a life. And, now I get to see this little Mr. Lucky live out his other eight lives. Entirely Lucky.

And now, more than six weeks after being treated and healthy, this is how cute the little playful guy is:

Mr. Lucky hangs out with Mom D
Six weeks after being found …
A portait of the cat, Mr. Lucky
He strikes a mean pose, eh?

Published by dtravelsround

Awakening the soul while traveling ... a story of being on the cusp of adulthood.

57 thoughts on “How Mr. Lucky got lucky”

  4. What a cutie! There are lots of street dogs in Santiago, and sadly I can’t adopt them all, but the ones I have helped just make me so happy. I hope Mr. Lucky makes you happy for many years to come!

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    1. I am glad I was able to take him to the vet and then have him receive additional care at the park. If it wasn’t for the initial vet and the amazing vet and staff at the park, he would not have made it. He has come along way! I love watching him turn more and more into a kitty.

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    1. He is such a little muffin! I adore him. Whenever I go to the park, I try to spend at least 20 minutes with him just snuggling him and taking him to a little area where we can sit and enjoy the jungle setting.

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  9. YOU HAVE A NEW CAT!!! I don’t care where he “lives.” What a little studmuffin!! I know that not only are you a bleeding heart, you have a special place in your heart for cats. 🙂

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  10. Oh, I’m a puddle of mush. I, too, have such a bleeding heart. On two separate occasions we found day-old kittens in Korea. We bottle fed them, cleaned them, kept them warm, but on both occasions it was too late. I’m so happy you found and saved this little guy. He looks so healthy now and looks like a cute, little rascal! Be sure to keep those pictures coming. 🙂

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    1. Awww, I’m so sorry. You two did your best though, and at least for that little amount of time, the kittens knew they were loved. Mr. Lucky is super cute and sweet now. More pics to come, of course!

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    1. No problem at all! Or, perhaps you can come to Thailand and see him for yourself!! I spent time with him the past two days: he is doing awesome. Super playful and cuddly! He purrs like a little motor.

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  14. He is stunning D!! He looks much better now than when we saw him a few weeks ago. He looked like a little gremlin…..hehehe
    See what love can do 😉
    Oh, and we’re sure there was a “kaaa” in there somewhere when Patti was speaking…….lol
    Looking forward to visiting him again soon!! And you as well!

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  16. Pingback: The RSS: Runaway Subscription Saturday of This Week

  17. Oh man. This is why Mexico was so hard for me. There were such mangy dogs everywhere and I wanted to save every single one. I’m surprised I didn’t head home with a small horde.

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  22. Sooo cute! I’m glad you have a litte kitty friend in Thailand. We rescued a kitten that found it’s way to our doorstep. Skin and bones when we found her. She is still alive and now lives with my aunt who treats her like a queen and thanks me every day for rescuing her.

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    1. He got lucky again yesterday. A dog attacked him, nearly got his neck. But, apparently, he is going to be ok. Will go and see him tomorrow. That is two of his nine lives in a matter of months. He is such a little cute and sweet thing though, I want the very best for him.

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  27. I hope there is a special place in heaven for people that aid helpless creatures. I love a story with a happy ending. Good on ya!

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  28. Pingback: Four Kittens Join the Save Elephant Family | Blog - Save Elephant Foundation

    1. Thank you! I’m still fighting for the little guy. Trying to bring him and his best friend over to the EU in a few months so we can be together again!

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