When I lived in Kuwait I saw this hungry lil kitten each morning in a yard that was surrounded by high walls, too high for a kitten to jump or climb. He was nothing but skin and bones. But he was shy and ran away and hid in a hole in the wall when someone came, and other (faster) cats ate the food I left for him. I saw him licking water drops from plants the gardener watered in the morning, which was the only nourishment he got. But it was May and hot (way over 100 degrees) and water dried off fast.
Then I saw him dragging his hind legs when he tried to run away, and I knew that this is one of the last signs of starvation when the hip muscles give out and the hind legs quit working, and the cat usually dies within a day or two.
So I went inside the yard, and with the help of the gardener who I gave some money to help me, we cornered the little black thing, just a skeleton with black fur stretched over it and big eyes. And I took him home.
I tried to feed him, but he was too far gone already, too dehydrated and starved, and he didn't want to eat or drink anymore. So I got a little dropper and literally "force-fed" him some milk, every two hours like a little baby. After two days the tongue came out and licked at the drops.... and a few days later he started eating by himself.
Of course, we took him home with us when we returned to the US, by then a healthy big cat who weighed 16 pounds, all muscle. "Fritz" is now 14 years old and happily living in Texas.
Copperas Cove, TX
