Meet Bits. Bits and I met on Saturday afternoon when I pulled her out from a garbage-filled trash compactor enclosure behind a Walgreens near my home in Des Moines, WA. Here's the short version: Bits' front leg is paralyzed AND she ate a half-inch, piece of rubber off of a kitten bottle. She's currently awaiting surgery to remove the rubber, and we're anticipating an amputation of her leg in a few weeks. This GFM is to help offset some of the costs of her surgeries. We appreciate every single dollar sent our way. Every donation will receive a handwritten thank-you card and photo of Bits (if donors opt to leave their mailing addresses) and our everlasting gratitude.

Here's the long version: I saw a post in a community FB page reading "I'm behind Walgreens and there's a kitten. Can someone come help, I am allergic." Posted 1 minute ago. I looked at my husband and asked if he wanted to go rescue a kitten with me. "No," he said, as he got up to put on his shoes. We arrived and the kitten had moved into the surround of a trash compactor and nobody in the Walgreens staff had the key. We couldn't see her so we put out some food and waited. A few other kind folks from the community also showed up and after about 30 minutes, she started meowing and I meowed back. We meowed back and forth for ten minutes before she started to FINALLY move closer.

After 45 minutes, she had come close enough to start eating the food. I gently moved it farther and farther away from her, coaxing her close enough for me to scruff her. As she moved toward me, I saw what awful shape she was in. Her front left leg was dragging and she is covered in blue/green hair dye. We immediately began driving around looking for an emergency vet. We struck out - everywhere was at capacity.

We took her home and set her up in our bathroom, isolated away from our other three cats. It's a small, quiet room. We set out food, water, litter, and a heating pad. I checked on her several times that night and started calling her Bits. She ate and purred. Despite everything, she is a very sweet, cuddly kitten. I finally got through to an emergency vet late that night and she gave us a tip: come in tomorrow at 9 am, it should be quiet and you should get in before we're at capacity.

So that's what we did. At 9 am Sunday morning we arrived with Bits at the emergency vet. It's only now, when we're registering her as ours, a Bacon, that we realize that her name is Bacon, Bits. (Absolutely unintentional, I swear.) Several hours later we had her prognosis - fleas and a paralyzed arm. The vet estimates that she is 5 weeks old and is 1.6lbs. Their best guess is that a person picked her up by the leg improperly and caused the damage.

The damage....we're watching her leg for a couple of weeks to see if it improves. If she gains the use of it again, we'll be over the moon. But the more likely scenario is that it is paralyzed and will need to be amputated. The vet estimated that surgery at $2000-$2500, and everyone in the vet's office is desperately in love with her. The bill for Sunday was $350. (We're not counting the food and toys we've purchased.)

We brought her home, made her comfortable, and settled in to wait. Our intention was to get her through the resolution of her leg issue and then either keep her because we'd fallen deeply in love or to find her a good home.

Now it's Monday, lunchtime. She's been eating okay, drinking some water, and using the litterbox. In an attempt to get ALL of the calories into her as quickly as possible, and given how young she is I decided to try kitten milk in a bottle. What a mistake that was. She loved the milk so much she ate the nipple off of the bottle. Roughly half an inch of rubber nipple, down the hatch. So. Back to the emergency vet we go.

Fast forward to 5:30 pm, Monday night. No, they can't induce vomiting, they have to remove it surgically. Trust me, I asked. They told me what it would cost and, reader, I sobbed. They went back and discussed. They worked with me and came down to $3,000. So I said yes and left her there. And now we wait. There's a risk that she won't pull through. She is so tiny and all surgeries have risks. But I trust this vet to do their absolute best.

We've been through a lot with Bits in these last few days, so now our plans have changed. Bits is staying with us. I'm too attached. We're currently brainstorming for a permanent name - all of our cats have M- names, so she'll need an M name to match the rest of the clowder.

So we're looking at $3k tonight and $2k in a couple of weeks. We're able to put this on a credit card to make it happen in a timely manner but I'll be honest, we need some help. Which is why I'm putting together this GFM. No amount is too small, every single dollar will be humbly accepted with much gratitude. Donors who leave their mailing address will receive a handwritten thank-you note with a photo of Bits. If we raise more than the goal, the extra funds will be used for her basic well-kitten care (vaccines; FIV, FIP, FLV tests; spay, microchip, etc.) and any funds beyond that will be donated to Burien CARES, an excellent animal shelter near me, which is where I had intended to take her when we thought she was uninjured. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for considering contributing to Bits' care.