Kitten escapes drowning at OR Tambo Airport
Her two siblings who were deeper inside the drain could not be saved
KEMPTON Feral and Abandoned Cats have taken a kitten under its care after it was rescued from drowning by warehouse workers at OR Tambo International Airport on November 16.
It took the rescuers 20 minutes to save little Cleo, as she is now affectionately known, from the storm water drain.
Lizeth de Villiers, co-founder of the organisation, said the workers lifted the grids to take Cleo out at around 11am.
She said her organisation received a call from the warehouse asking if they could adopt a kitten that had just been rescued.
Her two siblings who were deeper inside the drain could not be saved.
“The problem was when the water washed down, the kittens got washed down as well,” De Villiers said.
She said Cleo was completely unresponsive when taken out of the drain and slept most of her first day at home and only woke up to feed.
“She was malnourished, her head looked huge and it was not in proportion to the rest of her body.
“Her paws were red and swollen at the bottom because she was trying to grab onto the inside of the drain, trying to get out.”
Cleo weighed only 205g when she was rescued. “At the slightest touch, she would just fall over, because she was suffering from a condition called hypocalcemia which was as a result of malnutrition.
De Villiers said Cleo’s health had improved immensely and she now weighed 385g. “The change in a week’s time has been absolutely amazing.”
According to the organisation’s Facebook page, Cleo will be put up for adoption in a few weeks.
