One thru Four

... was up along the ridge off-roading a few years back, just me and the pooch - was traveling thru an old abandoned surface mine that was as desolate as the surface of the planet Mars - partway thru the mine saw this little, furry gray critter standing in the trail directly ahead - wasn't budging an inch, so stopped the vehicle and got out to investigate - thought that I was going to encounter a 'gray fox kit' considering we were relatively deep within the backwoods - discovered that it was a small gray domestic kitten - looked to be only a week or two in age - an older and larger female cat, which appeared to be around six months old, came running over from a short distance away - she was pretty friendly and immediately began meowing and rubbing against my leg - it was August and near ninety degrees in the shade, which didn't exist in the mine, nor a drop of water -  the nearest creek was at least a half mile away - the hot, dry conditions had been on-going since at least a week prior...

... about fifty feet over in the direction from where the larger cat came were three more small gray kittens, identical to the first - all were in pretty bad shape  - the three were lying immobile and baking in the hot sun and totally covered with flies that were literally eating them to death - one's face was covered with flies, mostly swarming on its eyes - the larger cat seemed pretty concerned for all four...

... now what - can't leave these guys here to suffer and die - thought about moving them out of the mine to down near the creek and into the shade, but they needed immediate attention to their physical conditions as well - didn't know how long ago it had been since some asshole had "dumped" them here and when they last had water and food as well - two quad-runners carrying a few local "ridge rats" drove by and stopped for a minute to see what was goin' on with me - showed them the cats - "... that's a shame someone would do something like that..." - and off they went... looked like everything was going to be up to me...

... now what to do - sure as hell didn't want one cat let alone five, and four helpless kittens ta' boot - but, compassion got the better of me, so I figured the least I could do was to take them home and give 'em some food and water and whatever other attention they needed - I'd figure out what to do with them later, if they survived... picking them up and tossing them into the rear of the vehicle I discover that they were literally skin and bone - the larger cat was in a bit better condition but pretty emaciated all the same...

... at home gave 'em some water and some canned cat food that I stopped and picked up at the 'Dollar Store' along the way - the larger cat drank two bowls of water and wolfed down three small cans of food - the kittens ate somewhat, but it was obvious they need their mother, which definitely wasn't me - gave 'em a small saucer of  'Almond Milk' which fared with them slightly better...

... (L-R) One, Two, Three, Four...

... the larger cat - definitely wasn't their mother - probably around six months old at best...

... but they definitely wanted to stick close to her and vice-versa...

... Two was in the worst shape...

... he was the one with the flies swarming on his eyes and had some pretty severe eye infection - sometime overnight he went blind and I had to personally "put him to rest" - not a pleasant task...

... Three had the same infection goin' on in the left eye...

... One and Four - One had a bit of the same eye infection goin' on - did the best I could for 'em but he and Three wound up dyin' the next day (Sunday)...

... Four was in the best condition...

... figured that he would pull through with no problem - made him an appointment at the "Vet" and took him there Monday after work - can't tell by the photo but he was so emaciated that the vet couldn't even find a clear spot to give him a shot - was eventually able to do so, but he and his assistant were both actin' pretty apprehensive regarding his survival - brought him in the house that night and made him a bed out of a cardboard box - got up to go to work the next morning and found him lying on the floor having some sort of convulsions and suddenly went paralyzed - he was still breathing slightly, but decided to "put him to rest" as well - again, not a pleasant task...

... the good news was that the older, protector cat was eventually taken by a guy I work with to live with his family and has been doing very well all these years...

... after their short, tough life, the little guys at least have a welcome home as well -  forever resting peacefully together in the back yard...