The Unstoppable Miss Mae
Warning: This blog post contains photos of our kitten Mae’s healing process, and surgical wounds. She’s still totally cute though.
Sometimes, the strongest dose of inspiration comes from something you’d least expect, but at a time when you need it the most. How do we gain inspiration from a blind kitten? By watching her navigate healing, growing, adapting, learning, playing and living everyday with her disability as if she had no disability.
I would like to introduce you to someone special. Someone that can teach us all a little about being unstoppable. Living life to the fullest. Making the best of each day, and thriving despite challenge.
Mae is our newest family member. She is a fuzzy, warm ball of snuggles, and she can be the most playful little girl you’ve ever met. This little kitten lives everyday to its fullest, and keeps going without letting anything get in her way. She doesn’t let anyone, including herself, tell her that she can’t do something! Mae doesn’t let anyone tell her no. If she doesn’t think she can do something, she tries, and tries, and tries until she does it. She tackles challenges head on with unwavering tenacity, and determination. Both literally and figuratively.
A Little About Mae’s Background
My daughter found Mae during her daily online search of adoptable shelter animals while she was sitting in the kitchen with me. In the past year, my daughter has probably shown me 50 animals, including dogs, that were available for adoption.
My daughter’s reactions to all of the other shelter animals we’ve looked at, was the typical “Aww, isn’t he/she cute?” and then she’d move on to the next one. Sometimes she’d follow up on a couple here and there, to see if they were still up for adoption, but she always wanted to make sure someone took them home and gave them a great life.
But when she found out just how special Mae was, when she first set eyes on her, she was taken by surprise. Instantly she knew she wanted to give this little kitten the opportunity to have the best life she possibly could. The reaction my daughter had when she clicked on her page to see Mae’s picture was priceless.
Giving her a new beginning
I knew based on her reaction that something special was happening. I looked at Mae’s page on the humane society’s website, and I also felt a strong need to give this little kitten a happy, loving home.
Mae was three months old when we found her, in a foster home at the time with her littermate. Her life up until now has been rough, to say the least. She already had three surgeries under her belt at the time, and had been on antibiotics pretty much her whole life up to that point.
Mae’s Disability
Mae is blind. The surgeries she had were to remove her eyes, the right one first, then the other shortly after, combined with her being spayed. The third surgery was to go back in on her right eye to remove a clot that had formed. Little did we know these would not be the last. She weighed only a little over a pound when she had her first surgery. When Mae came home with my daughter, she weighed just a little over 3 pounds.
That was just the beginning for Mae. Two days after we had her, her left eye swelled up and was showing signs of infection. By the third day, her incision that had mostly healed, opened back up. Poor Mae had an open surgical site that was oozing. Three weeks after that surgery. The entire left side of her face was swollen. The humane society ended up doing another surgery on her left eye two days later. It needed to be cleaned up and re-stitched closed. Along with more antibiotics. 10 days more.
During the 10 days she was on that antibiotic, she developed a sneeze and some chest congestion. We took her back to the vet and they re-weighed her and she had outgrown the dosage. They increased it and sent her home with another round.
She is so good at taking her medicine. It’s a liquid, and we gave it to her in a tiny syringe we squirted into her mouth. She is such a good girl, my daughter has given her the medicine a few times by herself. Mae didn’t fight it, she didn’t try to bite or scratch, and her front legs just dangled all relaxed when she got her meds. What a trooper. It’s like she knew it was going to help her to get better. And we were going to help her get through it.
Mae had to wear a cone on her neck for what would end up being the first 4 weeks we had her. She’d been on antibiotics for the first 7 weeks since bringing her home. Thank goodness she’s out of the cone now, and her incisions have healed very well.
I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, Mae didn’t let any of this slow her down one bit!
She was supposed to get the last of her vaccines at her last vet visit, but she still has the sneezing and a little bit of a whistle in her lungs. No vaccine this time, but instead more antibiotics. Stronger this time with a larger dose, and for 14 days instead of 10.
I am happy to report she is a slightly chubby, happy and healthy kitten now.
I never thought that giving a home to a kitten with special needs would be such a rewarding experience.
What We Can All Learn from Mae
She didn’t choose this life she’s been given without sight, yet she makes the most of everyday. She has had a rough life up until this point, not to mention having to adjust to new surroundings. New people, and new pets. She has the most fun she possibly could everyday. She is fearless and tenacious about making the best of it and enjoying what she has.
Sometimes, because she gets so frisky, she’ll run into things. A door frame or a piece of furniture sometimes chair legs, or the dog. She just keeps right on playing. She might shake her head for a second, but she gets right back up, and dives back into playing without missing a beat.
Sure, she may not have a frame of reference for what her life should be or look like. That is part of what makes her so relentless at pursuing the most of every moment. She doesn’t know that she should have eyes, or be able to see where she’s going. She doesn’t have anything to compare herself to which means she lives her life the way she wants to.
No matter what challenges you may be facing, you can still make the best of your unique situation. You can find ways to enjoy life in your own way, a way that works best for you. Have a blast living your life the way you want to. Don’t let society lead you to believe that you must live your life a certain way, or in a particular order. More importantly, don’t let them tell you that you can’t do something. Take it as a challenge. Prove them wrong. But most importantly, do it to prove to yourself that you are unstoppable.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase before, “mind over matter.” It’s the definition of this sweet little kitten’s secret to living live. Really living it.
If you can imagine yourself doing something, and imagine that you are successful and confident at it, you can trick your mind into accomplishing just about anything.
You can follow Mae on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/theamaezingmae/
If Mae can do it, so can you!
Andie
