Winkie

Sad day for us at NJ Aid for Animals. Winkie is dead.

This is Winkie. He is a three week old kitten that was surrendered to us a few days ago in Camden, NJ. When we asked the owner where they got the kitten, we were told a man was "giving them away on the street". Three weeks old and already separated from his mother..not a good sign. No immunity built up and he had more fleas on him than any animal we have ever had in our rescue and the fleas were literally sucking the life out of him.

Winkie was wet when we picked him up but could not understand why. We took him to the vet and discovered he was born without a uretha. So he somehow managed to force two holes through his bladder where urine was coming from. But in the three weeks he was alive, the urine was going under his skin and everywhere else. His belly was bruised and purple. Plus he had a heart murmur. Our vet said she had never ever seen anything like this before.

When she opened the scrotum, urine poured out.

Winkie only was on this earth for 21 days. We had him for five. While we had him he was free of fleas and slept in this little bed with a heating pad. Although severely disfigured in his genitalia, he was very hungry and ate copious amounts of kitten food. When we came into the room where he was, he would follow our feet and "hitch a ride" on our feet.

We told the vet to do everything possible to save Winkie. While he was under anesthesia to create an opening for him to urinate, he passed.

Winkie has been buried under our St. Francis statue.