Dalia has been adopted by a Vets Now receptionist after losing her mum and littermate in a fatal car accident
Meet Dalia, the tiny kitten lucky to be alive after her mum was hit by a car moments after giving birth.
Stunned, the driver rushed them both, plus another kitten, to the Vets Now’s Clay Cross clinic in Chesterfield, where staff battled to save them.
Little Dalia beat the odds after being taken home and looked after for weeks by Animal Care Assistant Megan Edwards.
Now, she’s been given a permanent loving home by another Vets Now staff member, who completely fell for her.
The Vets Now Chesterfield clinic, one of a nationwide chain of more than 60 hospitals and clinics open seven days a week for out-of-hours pet emergencies, was alerted to the awful accident by the motorist.
“We got a notification that this deceased cat was being brought in by the driver,” said Megan. “She was pregnant, and it seems like she was giving birth when she strayed out into the road right in front of the car.
“We had no idea what we were going to face and were all wondering whether there would be a chance of getting any of the kittens out.
“Sadly, the mother was dead when she arrived, the other kitten was in the womb and Dalia still had the umbilical cord attached.”
Although the other kitten was pink, it wasn’t breathing. A vet nurse carried out CPR for an hour to try and bring it back, they even laid it next to Dalia in a warming box in the hope that it would revive.
Tragically, they couldn’t save it, but Megan was determined to help Dalia, as she later named her, pull through.
She nursed Dalia and fed her milk through the night, and this didn’t stop at the end of her shifts – Megan took her home to continue the care.
“I feared she might not make it through the first day, but she did – despite being so small she sat in the palm of my hand,” said Megan, who hand-reared her other two cats Loki and Freya after getting them from a rescue centre.
“I just wanted to give her every chance. She was very snuggly and didn’t like to be left on her own, but she bonded with my cats and my boxer dog Hella.”
Dalia didn’t miss a feed and put on weight, gaining confidence and even bossing Megan’s other pets.
“I had her for eight weeks and if no one else wanted her, I was going to keep her,” adds Megan. “But one of our receptionists, Amy Shaw, took a real shine to her and offered her a home.
“I was bawling my eyes out when I handed her over, but she has a lovely forever home. She’s very much still part of the Vets Now family and I get regular updates on how she’s doing.
“It’s lovely that Dalia has a happy life after such a traumatic start and being so lucky to survive.”