The “Thirsty” Kitten

In the spring of 2011 I came around the side of the barn to find my very young, just three of four year old sister holding her kitten’s head underwater in a bucket full of rainwater. I had no idea how long she had been on the side of the barn trying to give her “thirsty” kitten a drink of water. Her excuse was “she was thirsty”.

It was the spring of 2011 when we had just gotten two orange kittens. One, was orange with a white chest that I named Tiger. The other, an all orange kitten that my sister named Rosie. The kittens were siblings that we had gotten from someone my mother knew.

Carlee was only three or four years old at the time. So in reality she knew no better. She truly believed she was allowing Rosie to get a drink while forcing her head into the horse feed bucket filled to the top with rainwater that had dripped down from the sides of the barn.

It was a scary situation. I was only 11 years old at the time. If I had not walked around the side of the barn when I did to find Carlee trying to give our beloved kitten (at the time) Rosie a “drink” then we might have lost her that day.

Carlee is still occasionally reminded of the almost accidental drowning of the Spring of 2011. It’s a joke at our house now.Thankfully, Carlee no longer forces her beloved pet’s heads underwater, and has so far done a good job raising her new puppy.

In conclusion, as alarming as it might have been to find my sister accidentally almost drowning her kitten, it provided a great learning experience. She learned that if an animal is thirsty, it will go get a drink on its own. Also, she learned that kittens cannot breathe underwater. Thankfully, Rosie was unharmed. She was wet, from approximately the mid point of her body to her head. She was also likely cold from the ice cold rain water considering that it was early spring in Maine. Nevertheless, Rosie survived.