Alma, a tiny kitten, ran in front of us desperately from a bush in the residential area of Ujpest. Lead by my protective instincts I picked her up right away and I saw a dog chasing after her from the bush. I held her tight and went to the bush to see what the dog was doing there. What we saw was shocking. We found another kitten lying on the ground, torn apart, covered in blood. It was obvious that we were too late to save her.

Meanwhile, the dog’s owner showed up. He was not showing any kind of emotion, let alone regret when he saw what his dog had done. All he said was that his dog does not like cats and he always chases after them. A couple of other people stopped by to see what’s happening and the dog’s owner’s only comment was: “my dog tore a cat apart”. Everybody was astonished to learn how the little kitten got killed and how cold and ruthless the dog’s owner was. Even those who are not big animal fans, they do not feed stray animals and do not own pets, were taken aback by the dog owner’s approach as the little kitten did not stand the chance against the dog. After this episode, the dog and its owner walked away. He did not say anything, no apologies, no remorse, nothing.

It is beyond my understanding, how a responsible pet owner can let their dog run around without a leash, especially if the dog has a tendency to chase cats. This could have been prevented; the kitten should not have died. Furthermore, a responsible pet owner knows, that his dog could have sustained serious injuries if the kittens’ mother would have been there, protecting the little ones. In this case I am sure the dog’s owner would have been the one to be offended and he would not have walked away so silently.
After we took Alma home, we put her in a soft bed and gave her water and some soft food. She might be around 4-5 weeks old approximately. She did not touch the water or the food; she could not stop shaking, just staring into nothing. She was not able to communicate, did not react to any sound or any petting. We took her to the vet, as she was in a terrible shock and she seemed to have hurt her eye while trying to get away from the dog. Alma did not even move when we put the crème in her eye. It was heartbreaking to see this little animal not being able to make her way to her food or to the sand box. The next day I managed to put her in the sand box, where she did her business almost motionless. We were feeding her from a syringe.



Three days have passed like this, when I finally saw her reach out through her cage, touching my feet and starring at me. Even though I am a gown up, I cried like a child to see this little kitten finally opening up to the world.



The situation has been improving every day since then. We’ve been both fighting. I try to gain her trust and she tries to trust me. Now she can eat by herself, she uses the sandbox and she likes to be petted. She even purrs! I try to do everything in my power to make her forget all the horrible things she had to face at such a young age - losing her mother and later her sibling, running for her life from the dog and its careless owner.



Although I feel that we are on the right track to recovery, it will take a long time for Alma to play around happily like other kittens her age. She will probably remember all the bad things that happened to her for a while if not forever.

Her relationship with dogs will be complicated for sure and it is possible that she will be shy with other animals as well. We do not give up and hope to fully rehabilitate her and to find a caring and loving new owner who would make Alma happy once and for all.



Maresz