This is my last rescued (brain damaged) baby, Sweetpea.

One night..about 9.30pm I was working in my office upstairs when I heard a kitten crying. I went out the the balcony and saw this little kitten trying to climb out of the ditch. She was crying and probably calling for her mom. She was about 5 or 6 weeks old I think.

Every time she managed to make it almost to the top of the ditch, she would fall back in again.

The ditch is about 3 feet deep and is where the storm water goes when we have heavy downpours...so it had about 6 inches of disgusting dirty water in there....and rats...plenty of big ugly rats running up and down the ditch. The rats here are so big, they sometimes eat little tiny newborn kittens if the mommy cat does not have them somewhere safe.

I watched her climb and fall back in at least four times....crying very loudly and I was hoping her mom was around somewhere and would come and fetch her....but after about half an hour, I couldnt stand it any longer. She was getting exhausted and her crying was getting weak.

So I grabbed a towel, and went down to the ditch and tried to pull her out. She was terrified witless and tried to claw me and kept hissing and spitting at me...but she was clearly hurt.

I saw a few people walk down this street and couldnt believe that they would just ignore this little kitten crying in the ditch. They just walked on by without even so much as a look....unbelievable!!!

I couldnt reach her when she fell back into the bottom of the ditch...so I literally had to lie flat on my belly  to be able to grab hold of her. People were now walking past and this time they stopped just to look at this crazy woman lying on her belly in the middle of the street, reaching into a disgusting, dirty ditch. No offers of help whatsoever...a few giggles and snickers from some of them but I just ignored them and tried to grab this kitten that was scratching my hand to bits.

Finally I managed to get hold of a little bit of her skin so I just hauled her right out and bundled her into the towel and took her home. She was in terror and the only place I could put her...away from all the other cats, was my empty garage. It was now almost 10.30pm and I was stressed and exhausted and I knew she would be better if I just left her alone to calm down.

I unwrapped her from the towel, put her down on the floor and noticed that she couldnt walk properly and was going around and around in circles. Also she had a very wobbly head which she couldnt seem to control.

She managed to get underneath a wooden crate and kept hissing and spitting so I turned out the light and left her alone. She was filthy dirty and still damp so I thought when she settles down she will clean herself.....I really wanted to give her a bath right there and then but she was so stressed and clearly hurt, so I figured leaving her alone would be the best thing at that moment.

I left her with a plate of Whiskas (soft canned food.....Seafood Platter if I remember correctly...lol) and a bowl of water and closed the door. She was safe in there...no rats or other cats could get in and she needed to rest.

Early the next morning, I crept into the garage and she had eaten every scrap of food...but as soon as she heard me, she ran in circles, head wobbling uncontrollably, straight back under the wooden crate.

(Even when she's eating, her head wobbles so much, it's a difficult thing for her...but she never gives up....lol)

I had to check to see how badly hurt she was so I put on some rubber gloves (which were useless...her claws went straight through) and tried to pull her out from under the crate.

She had cleaned herself reasonably well during the night so she already looked much better...but her wobbly head and walking in circles worried me. So I rang the vet and made an appointment for the minute they opened their door.

The vet had to sedate her as she was really stressed out....obviously she was feral and has had no contact with humans and was terrified witless.

The vet said that she has had some form of trauma....probably hit by a bicycle or even a motorbike...but there were no broken bones and no open wounds. She did however have a concussion and most likely brain damage.  One of her eyes had nerve damage and the vet said she probably lost her sight from that eye.

She asked me if I wanted her euthenized but I couldnt handle the thought of that. The night before, I saw so much feisty-ness and spirit in this tiny little thing...she fought like crazy and was not giving up...so I thought, as long as she wasnt in any horrible pain, I wouldnt give up on her either.. I would take her home and keep a close eye on her.

The vet also said that she was not born this way, her mother would have abandoned her at birth if there was something wrong with her....a natural thing they do in the animal world....sounds cruel but its survival of the fittest....so this little girl had wandered away from mom and wound up in the street where she got hit by something.

The vet gave me some anti-biotics and some anti-inflammatory medication for her eye and any brain swelling, which I could mix into her food and I took her home.

I stayed with her in the garage as much and as long as I could to keep an eye on her and also to get her used to me. (no air-conditioning, and a million mozzies...and all....lol).

She stayed under the wooden crate and only came out when there was food around.......she loooved her food and gulped it down like there was no tomorrow.

Over the next week, with a lot of bribery treats and many hours with her in the garage she started getting used to me, and although I couldnt touch her at all, she started eating treats right out of my hand.

The (darkish) photos I posted here are from a 36 minute video footage I took of her...I used freeze-frame to extract individual images....it was taken at night and the light in the garage was dim....but these are the only photos I have of her when she lived by herself in the garage.

She developed an infection to her damaged eye so it was back to the vet for more anti-biotics and so as not to stress her out anymore later, I asked the vet to sterilize her while she was under sedation.

Her brain damage is permanent...she will always have her uncontrollably wobbly head and walk in circles to get from point A to point B...but other than that...she was in no pain or distress and started enjoying her life in the garage. I gave her lots of toys to play with....her favorite is a ball of aluminium foil all scrunched up....tied to a string and hung up so it would swing back and forth....this is what she is playing with in the video footage.

It took about 6 weeks before I could introduce her to my other indoor cats. None of my other cats like her (except sweet Cassie) because they know there is something wrong with her. They kept attacking her and picking on her...so for about two months I kept her in my bedroom and brought her out once in a while. Yes, I had kitty litter box, food, water and toys in my bedroom...the kitty litter I kept in the ensuite bathroom and cleaned it almost everytime she used it.

Little by little and as she grew bigger and bigger, she stayed out more and more...and finally, when she was big enough to defend herself from the others, I moved her out of my bedroom.

Now she lives with all my other in-door cats...she thinks she's queen of the castle and instigates all the squabbles and harrassments. The others have gotten used to her and apart from putting her "in her place" with a quick swipe and a hiss once in a while....they all live happily ever after.

playing with her aluminium foil ball....

while keeping one eye out for me....

and playing some more.....

Time for a snack.....

and playing some more...

mother nature calls.....

some privacy please.......

love getting on the box.....

love getting inside the box.....

loves lying on her back and reaching for the ball with her back foot....

all tuckered out.....

Goodnight.

This is what she looks like today....not very much bigger....still brain damaged in a hilarious way....still very much a kitten (maybe because her brain hasnt developed any further), blind in one eye and vision impaired in the other. But she's happy, healthy....fat....and she loves cuddles.

Bored with this whole photo thing...

Nice meetin' you all...

The End.