Cada vez que relato esta historia se me acelera el corazón. Hoy Les quiero contar un poco de cómo nuestro gato Tomás, llegó a la familia, al final les dejo algunas preguntas y me encantaría poder leer sus respuestas.
Every time I tell this story my heart races. Today I would like to tell you a little bit about how our cat Tomás came into the family, at the end I leave you some questions and I would love to read your answers.
El encuentro
Era una noche fría, típica del invierno limeño, hacíamos el acostumbrado paseo con nuestra perrita Lara (para ese entonces tenía tres años), cuando se acercó a la base de árbol y se quedó inmóvil, por más que le jalaba su cuerda y la llamaba, no se movía, decidí ver qué había captado su atención, para mi sorpresa, era un gatito bebé, tan péquelo que parecía un ratón, apenas tenía pelo rubio y se veía su ombligo colgando aún de su barriguita, tan débil, indefenso parecía que le quedaban pocas horas de vida.
The meeting
It was a cold night, typical of Lima's winter, we were taking our usual walk with our dog Lara (she was three years old at the time), when she approached the base of the tree and remained motionless, no matter how much I pulled her rope and called her, she didn't move, I decided to see what had caught her attention, to my surprise, it was a baby kitten, so small it looked like a mouse, it barely had blonde fur and its belly button was still hanging out of its tummy, so weak, helpless it looked like it had only a few hours to live.
Le dije a mi esposo que debíamos llevarlo a la casa para que muriera tranquilo, luego de verlo no podría dejarlo ahí, podría tener un desenlace aún más trágico. Rápidamente, agarré al gatito y lo llevamos a la casa, buscamos una pequeña caja, algunas mantas y le pusimos un par de botellas de agua caliente para tratar de darle el mayor calor posible.
I told my husband that we should take him home so he could die peacefully, after seeing him I could not leave him there, he could have an even more tragic outcome. Quickly, I grabbed the kitten and we took him to the house, found a small box, some blankets and put a couple of hot water bottles to try to give him as much warmth as possible.
Lara estaba impactada, se quedó casi toda la noche a un lado de la caja, alerta, como si fuera una madre que acaba de dar a luz a su cría. Mi perrita fue adoptada desde los dos meses, y esterilizada antes de cumplir un año, nunca había tenia cachorros así que imagino que el instinto materno al fin y acabo se manifiesta de diferentes formas.
Lara was shocked, she stayed most of the night on the side of the box, alert, as if she was a mother who had just given birth to her baby. My dog was adopted when she was two months old, and spayed before she was a year old, she had never had puppies before, so I imagine that the maternal instinct finally manifests itself in different ways.
Sin esperanzas de vida
A la mañana siguiente le dije a mi esposo, seguro el gatito debe haber muerto en la noche, hay que ver qué podemos hacer con su cuerpito. Pero no pudimos estar más equivocados, el gatito había logrado sobrevivir, estaba adherido a la botella de agua caliente, rápidamente lo agarré, lo envolví en otras mantas agarré más botellas calientes y salí a buscar atención veterinaria, visité dos lugares y en ambos me dijeron que “no valía la pena atenderlo” estaba muy pequeño, todavía con el ombligo, ni siquiera había abierto los ojos quizás tenía uno o días de nacido, probablemente no había recibido leche materna y que moría en un par de horas.
No hope for life
The next morning I told my husband, surely the kitten must have died in the night, we have to see what we can do with her little body. But we couldn't have been more wrong, the kitten had managed to survive, it was attached to the hot water bottle, I quickly grabbed it, wrapped it in other blankets, grabbed more hot bottles and went out to look for veterinary attention, I visited two places and in both I was told that "it was not worth attending" it was very small, still with the navel, it had not even opened its eyes, maybe it was one or days old, it probably had not received breast milk and that it would die in a couple of hours.
Me negaba a quedarme con esas respuestas, sabía que el gatito había luchado toda la noche por sobrevivir, así que decidí insistir con una última veterinaria. En esta se quedaron sorprendidos al verlo, tan pequeño, apenas respiraba, tenía la temperatura muy baja y era tan liviano que la balanza no se movía para tomar su peso. La veterinaria me dijo ¨podría sobrevivir, pero no será fácil”.
I refused to stay with those answers, I knew that the kitten had struggled all night to survive, so I decided to insist with one last veterinarian. At this one they were shocked to see him, so small, he was barely breathing, his temperature was very low and he was so light that the scale wouldn't move to take his weight. The vet told me "he could survive, but it won't be easy".
Los cuidados
Efectivamente, no fue fácil, mi esposo y yo no sabíamos nada de los cuidados que requiere un gato recién nacido, ni siquiera habíamos tenido gatos, sin embargo nos dedicamos a atenderlo todo un mes, le dábamos leche tibia en un biberón cada dos horas, cambiamos el agua de sus botellas constantemente para mantener el calor (los bebés no pueden regular su temperatura corporal), teníamos que estimularlo con un algodón húmedo, simulando los lamidos de su madre para que hiciera pipi y popó, fue agotador, principalmente por los despertares nocturnos, las visitas semanales al veterinario. Escogimos el nombre y decidimos llamarlo Tomás. En este punto, el plan era que sobreviviera y luego buscarle un hogar.
The care
Indeed, it was not easy, my husband and I did not know anything about the care required by a newborn cat, we had not even had cats, however we dedicated ourselves to take care of him for a whole month, we gave him warm milk in a bottle every two hours, We changed the water in his bottles constantly to keep him warm (babies cannot regulate their body temperature), we had to stimulate him with wet absorbent cotton, simulating his mother's licking so he would pee and poop, it was exhausting, mainly because of the nightly awakenings, the weekly visits to the vet. We chose the name and decided to call him Tomas. At this point, the plan was for him to survive and then find him a home.
Cada día Tomás se hacía más fuerte, avanzaba en su desarrollo, era más rubio y se notaban más sus franjas naranjas. Demoró dos semanas para que abriera los ojos, aún tenía una visión borrosa, no podía mantener el equilibrio. Al cabo de un mes ya había invertido mucho dinero en exámenes, alimentos especiales, suplementos vitamínicos, pero la mayor inversión fue en tiempo y dedicación. Luego de cuatro semanas ya era momento de cambiar la leche por alimentos sólidos, enseñarle a usar el arenero y que empezara a interactuar con la familia.
Every day Tomas grew stronger, he was getting stronger, he was getting blonder and his orange stripes were more noticeable. It took two weeks for him to open his eyes, he still had blurred vision, he couldn't keep his balance. After a month he had already invested a lot of money in tests, special food, vitamin supplements, but the biggest investment was in time and dedication. After four weeks it was time to switch from milk to solid foods, teach her to use the sandbox and start interacting with the family.
Preparándonos para ser padres
Fue un trabajo en equipo, mi esposo y yo sentimos que Tomás nos estaba preparando para el momento en que nos convirtiéramos en padres, quienes han tenido hijos y a su vez se han dedicado a cuidar a un gatito recién nacido encontrarán las similitudes en este proceso. Pasaron los meses, Tomás y Lara ya eran inseparables, teníamos un integrante más en la familia, no volvimos a mencionar el tema de la adopción para Tomás.
Preparing to be parents
It was a team effort, my husband and I felt that Tomas was preparing us for the moment when we would become parents, those who have had children and in turn have taken care of a newborn kitten will find similarities in this process. Months passed, Tomas and Lara were already inseparable, we had one more member in the family, we never mentioned again the subject of adoption for Tomas.
Tomasito se convirtió en un típico gato naranja, grande, hermoso, territorial, el rey de la casa, se despierta a las 3am y levanta a todos en la casa, es el dueño del sofá, sabe exactamente a qué hora deben sacar a pasea a Lara porque luego viene la rutina del desayuno y la cena. Carlota, mi bebé lo ama y aunque él no demuestra amor se llena de paciencia para tolerar los juegos y jaladas de cola que ella le hace.
Tomasito became a typical orange cat, big, beautiful, territorial, the king of the house, he wakes up at 3am and wakes up everyone in the house, he is the owner of the sofa, he knows exactly at what time to take Lara for a walk because then comes the routine of breakfast and dinner. Carlota, my baby loves him and although he doesn't show love, he is patient enough to tolerate the games and tail pulling she does.
Han pasado tres años desde aquella noche en la que decidimos rescatar a Tomás, ha sido una de las experiencias, más agotadora y maravillosas de mi vida, convivir con un gato cambió nuestro estilo de vida, hay días que su rebeldía e intensidad nos hace pensar si deberías buscarle un nuevo hogar pero esto se nos pasa tan pronto se sienta en nuestras piernas a ver televisión, nos da calor y nos amasa con sus patitas. Los pelos en el sofá valen la pena, no hay nada que no se pueda solucionar con una buena aspiradora. Así fue como el gatito que ¨no iba a sobrevivir ni una noche” ya tiene tienes tres años con nosotros.
It has been three years since that night when we decided to rescue Tomás, it has been one of the most exhausting and wonderful experiences of my life, living with a cat changed our lifestyle, there are days that his rebelliousness and intensity makes us think if you should look for a new home for him but this goes away as soon as he sits on our legs to watch TV, gives us warmth and kneads us with his little paws. The hair on the sofa is worth it, there is nothing that can't be solved with a good vacuum cleaner. That's how the kitten that "wasn't going to make it through the night" has been with us for three years now.
Cuéntame
¿Tú que habrías hecho?
¿Habrías dejado al gatito en la base del árbol?
¿Te hubieses quedado con el diagnostico de los primeros veterinarios?
¿Después de cuidarlo por dos meses le habrías buscado otro hogar?
Me gustaría saber que opinan sobre estas decisiones que tomamos.
Los leo.
Con cariño siempre
Aixa.
Tell me
what would you have done?
Would you have left the kitten at the base of the tree?
Would you have stayed with the diagnosis of the first veterinarians?
After taking care of him for two months would you have found him another home?
I would like to know what you think about these decisions we made.
I read you.
With love always
Aixa.
CREDITOS:
Fotos tomadas con mi telefono
HERRAMIENTAS:
www.deepl.com/
