Belle was born sometime around the middle of June 2025. She was one of 4 babies, 2 girls and 2 boys. All were doing well until their mother disappeared and never came back for her babies.

The kittens were found when they were about a week old and their eyes had just opened. They were rescued and taken to the Little Elm Shelter where it was determined that they would be fostered until they were old enough to be adopted to loving families. Unfortunately the woman who normally fostered kittens had just had a baby of her own and was unable to care for 4 very young kittens who needed to be fed every 2 hours. So a very devoted foster for puppies volunteered to care for them. After a few weeks, she was going out of town and was not able to care for them, so the kittens ended up with me! I had never fostered before, but how hard could it be? I had not taken into account that it was very much like having a new born baby, feeding every 2-3 hours! However, we got along very well and the kittens flourished.

Belle, however, showed signs of limping and not using her left rear leg. After consulting a Vet, we found out her leg was very damaged. She had suffered a trauma that caused the bones in that leg to stop growing and never connecting to each other. So her thigh was not attached to her pelvis and her lower leg bone was not attached to the thigh. They were all just “floating” in her leg.

We were in the process of determining if that leg needed to be removed or just left alone when an additional health issue arose. She was having a great deal of difficulty breathing, so much so that I pushed to have her seen that night at a Vet ER in Denton. The doctors discovered that she had a bolus ( a bubble) in her chest which had burst and caused a pin hole in her lung. Consequently her lung was collapsed and she was only able to use her right lung to breathe. The doctors removed the air in her chest to allow the lung to expand so she could breathe normally. Unfortunately, the lung continued to collapse and she could barely breathe at all. So this wonderful doctor offered a “Hail Mary” in doing a blood patch to try to permanently seal her lung. The alternative was to humanely euthanize her rather than have her suffer. FLEAS negotiated a payment plan to cover the costs. After 3 tries, the blood patch worked and Belle was beginning to really heal. She had been in the care of the doctors for 2 weeks and was delighted to finally come home with her brothers and sister. We were advised NOT to seek any further surgery for her for at least 6 months, so her leg issue would have to wait until she was strong enough to deal with that problem.

Belle continued to grow and play even with her bum leg. She learned to run, jump, wrestle with her siblings in spite of her leg. By January, when the 6 months were up, we made an appointment with a Vet Orthopedic Surgeon to examine her and advise what was the best solution for her leg. By then Belle was running and playing like any other completely healthy kitten, using her bad leg very much like any other leg. When the doctor examined her, he advised that both rear legs muscles were equally developed in spite of the short bones in the left leg. She didn’t limp, she had no pain so he recommended that her leg stay put unless she develops a limp! Such good news for a little girl that had such a precarious beginning!!

Now she is about 9 months old and plays with our other 2 cats, Heidi and Bandit. She loves to play fight, chase a laser light and jumps up all day long for cuddles. She has become the apple of my husband’s life, but still thinks I’m her mom. She sleeps with me and Heidi, harasses Bandit and is very much loved.