Teri Vance: BeBe Braveheart fighting for her life

Volunteers at Carson City’s cat sanctuary Catmandu are doing their best to nurse back to health a 2-week-old kitten found riddled with BBs in Dayton.

Catmandu rescued the kitten late last week after it was discovered behind the Dayton Smith’s. “The foster mom picked her up, and she was all bloody and mangled,” said Linda Buchanan, founder of Catmandu.

The kitten was taken to the veterinarian where five BBs were removed from her body. There was one in her ear, three in her abdomen and one from the base of her tail. Another wound has since been found in her head.

“It’s beyond me how someone could use this little baby as target practice,” Buchanan said.

Volunteers named her BeBe Braveheart. She’s being cared for in a foster home, where she can receive the individual attention she will need if she’s going to recover.

“She’s only about 2-and-a-half weeks old,” Buchanan said. “Just being that young makes it touch and go. You add to that a bottle baby that’s fighting off infection — she’s a little fighter. She’s got a wonderful, wonderful foster mom who’s taking great care of her.”

Buchanan said with all the antibiotics and ointment, Bebe Braveheart can’t be matched with a surrogate mother at risk of making the momma cat sick. However, they’re hoping in a week or two that will be a possibility.

“She really is doing much better,” Buchanan said. “She’s just adorable.”

While she described this case as “particularly horrific,” she said it’s not unusual to receive kittens on the brink of death.

Volunteer Vivian Spiker said this is a dismal pattern they see every year.

“That’s why it’s so important that people spay and neuter their pets,” she said.

“Every spring, so many kittens make their way to Catmandu, sometimes in the saddest ways.

“They’re left in boxes or in dumpsters, and God knows how many there are out there who never make it and suffer.”

Spiker said people often mistakenly assume cats are equipped to survive in the wild.

“It’s a really hard life for a cat on the streets,” she said. “A lot of them just don’t make it.”

Buchanan said in addition to spaying and neutering, people can help by fostering, adopting or donating to Catmandu.

She said it can be disheartening to see how cats are treated, but also rewarding to see people joining in the effort to save them.

“You really see the best and worst in people,” she said.

To donate to Catmandu or to volunteer, go to catmanducc.org or call 775-297-3419. For updates on Bebe Braveheart, follow Catmandu Carson City on Facebook.

Teri Vance is a journalist, freelance writer and native Nevadan. Contact her with column ideas at terivance@rocketmail.com.