A few of our WestWind friends were gathered at a farm north of Atchison, Kansas, to spend the weekend stitching together at the beginning of August. As we arrived, we noticed the tiniest little black kitten mewing her little heart out in the farmyard. Small but mighty, she wanted our help but skittered away whenever we got close.

Finally, after a bit of encouragement in the form of turkey from Jack Stack BBQ, we were able to pick her up and get a look. The sweet thing had the loudest motor and an immense desire for companionship from that point on! We discovered that she had a pretty severe injury to her bottom lip that exposed her tiny teeth, and she was incredibly malnourished. You could feel every fragile little bone, and her legs looked disproportionately long to her body.

One of our ladies talked to the caretaker who had come by to manage the yard, and he stated that he believed someone had tossed her from a car earlier in the day. Heartbreaking! But this baby had fierce determination to live, and we decided we had to do our part to help. Away to the store two of our ladies went for a litter box and kitten food, while another met her husband halfway back to the city to get a pet carrier. We found a spot to keep her safe and spent the remainder of our retreat loving on her and making sure she was eating well.

Now the story gets extra good. Our friend Andi made the decision to take this poor kitten home to Wichita and get her the veterinary care she so desperately needed. She confirmed today that the kitten is indeed a girl and now officially dubbed "Muffin".

The veterinarian said that she is in remarkably good condition given her circumstances and that Andi brought her just in time. What we thought was exposed gum tissue is actually bone, and Muffin is going in for emergency surgery on August 5. They will use stitches to attempt to bring the skin from her chin up to become her bottom lip, and any more time may have prevented their ability to perform the procedure.

I have created this page to share with our generous and kind-hearted retreaters in an effort to assist Andi with the expenses of caring for Muffin and giving her a chance at the best life possible! Would you please consider donating to the cause to help one of our fellow "Windies" and what may be our new little mascot? :) We would all be ever so grateful!