A delivery driver was making the rounds in rural Ohio when they noticed something that definitely wasn’t part of the day’s deliveries. Somewhere along the route was a tiny kitten who desperately needed someone to stop and help. The driver alerted others to the little cat, setting off a chain of events that eventually brought him to Rural Ohio Cats & Kittens. And because his unlikely rescue began with a delivery driver, his caregivers came up with the perfect name. They called him Snail, short for Snail Mail.
Snail Was in Worse Shape Than Anyone Expected
The funny name didn’t match the seriousness of Snail’s condition when rescuers first got their hands on him. He was so thin that his caregiver described him as “skin and bones,” and she wasn’t sure the tiny kitten was going to make it.
Snail was emaciated and anemic, which the rescue attributed to a heavy flea infestation. He was also dealing with infections affecting his eye and ear, along with an upper respiratory infection.
For such a tiny body, it was an enormous amount to handle at once. But apparently nobody had informed Snail that things weren’t looking good, because the kitten had other plans.
Nobody Could Break His Spirit
Even while his body needed help, Snail’s personality refused to disappear. His rescuer said he had an incredible will to live and that nothing seemed capable of breaking his spirit.
As he began feeling better, everyone got to meet the kitten hiding underneath all those medical problems. Snail turned out to be sweet, playful and, according to his caregiver, “just hilarious.”
That might be the best part of his before-and-after story. The fragile kitten who once looked almost too weak to survive now has enough energy to play, make people laugh, and generally conduct all the important nonsense expected of an 8- or 9-week-old kitten.
His ‘Before’ Photo Says It All
Rural Ohio Cats & Kittens shared a photo from when Snail was first rescued alongside pictures of how he looks now. The difference makes it easy to understand why his caregiver wanted everyone to see just how far he’d come.
In that first photo is a kitten whose little body was clearly struggling. In the newer pictures, Snail is looking much more like the silly baby cat his rescuers always hoped he’d get the chance to become.
Those kinds of transformations don’t happen instantly. They come from veterinary care, good food, medication when needed, foster care and someone paying close enough attention to notice every little change along the way. And in Snail’s case, the whole thing started because a delivery driver noticed one tiny kitten.
Snail Still Has One Little Thing to Keep an Eye On
Now approximately 8 to 9 weeks old, Snail has been neutered and microchipped, and his vaccinations have been started. The rescue also reports that he tested negative for FIV and FeLV.
Snail does have a mild heart murmur, something his caregiver says she’s encountered fairly often in kittens. At this point, they don’t know whether it will remain as he grows, but the rescue says it currently isn’t affecting him and should be monitored during his regular veterinary checkups.
For Snail, that means life at the moment can remain focused on much more pressing kitten matters. There are toys to attack, people to charm and probably several things he’s not supposed to climb that require immediate investigation.
This Special Delivery Is Ready for a Home
Snail is currently being fostered in Utica, Ohio, and Rural Ohio Cats & Kittens is hoping people will share his story as he searches for a family. After everything he’s already experienced in his very short life, his caregivers describe him with one wonderfully simple word: “perfect.”
It’s hard to argue with them when you look at how far he’s come. The kitten his rescuer once feared wouldn’t survive is now sweet, playful and apparently very committed to making humans laugh.
Snail Mail may be an unusually slow-sounding name for a kitten who has come so far so quickly. But thanks to one delivery driver who noticed him at exactly the right moment, this special little package finally has a chance to reach the destination that matters most: home.