Nebraska: Kitty On The Mend After Being Found Frozen To A Storm Drain

NEBRASKA -- An 11-week-old kitten found frozen to a concrete storm drain earlier this week is recovering.

A Good Samaritan looking out of her window last Sunday morning noticed a mother cat trying to get something out of an Elkhorn storm drain. When the cat couldn’t seem to get the job done, she stayed by the drain, pacing and agitated. The Good Samaritan threw on her coat and went outside to check.

“I was horrified. The mom’s kitten was dangling in the storm drain by one back foot, which was frozen to the concrete.”

 

The rescuer used lukewarm water to free the back leg, warmed the kitten up and took her to the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha, which says getting the kitten back on track "was touch and go as one front paw was severely swollen with frostbite and the back leg was broken and frost damaged."

"Her rear leg is fractured, so today we are going to do surgery and get X-rays on her and see what we can do to fix that," said Humane Society veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Marriott.

Appropriately named "Stormy" because she was found stuck in the storm drain, this little kitten is lucky to have even made it this far. The animal shelter believes she may have tried to crawl in the drain to get out of the cold.

 

"This is probably one of the more severe cases because she was like dangling, so she has a fractured leg with that as well, in addition to the frostbite," said Dr. Marriott.

From the cage, Stormy went to X-ray and after a few different angles, the fracture was determined to be a break. Her leg will have to amputated, but for a kitten, the doctors assure us she will be able to adjust easily back to a normal cat life. The Humane Society says her rescuers will be the ones to give little Stormy a forever home.

 

The Humane Society is using this case to help get the following reminder out about our next round of harsh, wintry weather this weekend:

With bitter temperatures on the way this weekend this is a dramatic illustration of why pet owners should keep pets safe inside. In year’s past we have seen cats frozen to bird feeders and other free flowing water facilities as they look for places to hydrate!

(WOWT - Jan 16, 2016)