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The Story of Oink
Once in a while there comes along a very special kitten. Oink is that kitten. Oink was born in May 2002, to Kititas Portiaof Darktower (Poshie). He was one of a litter of 7 kittens, who were eagerly awaited. However, as the first kitten was born we knew something was drastically wrong. The kitten was deformed very badly, and as it turns out so were the other 6 kittens. We were really distraught, as the labour took almost 9 hours and these kittens were alive whilst we waited for them all to be born. Initially we thought there might be 2 we could save as they seemed only to have tail deformities, but unfortunately the vet found a cleft palate and he too had to be put to sleep. We decided to save the kitten and called him Oink, because of his piglet tail, so that Poshie would have at least one kitten to look after.
This was Poshie's first litter, and with having only one kitten she didn't really know what to do. So with the help of Jacky's mum, we set about hand rearing the kitten. Poshie helped by cleaning him and we took turns through the night. At 3 weeks however, he seemed to have a problem with his back legs and started fitting. As the other kittens were so badly deformed we thought it must be neurological, and so did the vet until we took his temperature. It was through the roof, so we started him on antibiotics and carried on hand feeding him. He came on in leaps and bounds, but did not start on solids until he was at least 6 weeks old and didn't know how to play like other kittens. We introduced him to the white kittens when he was 8 weeks old and he quickly learnt!
Oink is now 6 months old and living with Jacky's mum. He is a little terror who is very headstrong and full of love, his tail gives him character, but doesn't stop him from getting into mischief. We don't know what other problems he may have, or how long he will live, but he is very special to all who know him.
The reason Poshie's kittens were born like this remains a mystery, but the Veterinary College at Liverpool are sure it was exposure to an external agent during the early stages of Poshie's pregnancy. Due to popular request here are some up to date pictures of Oink.
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