When Ashley Kelley came to the rescue of an abandoned kitten one night, she didn’t know how desperately the tiny feline needed her help. It wasn’t until she got the minuscule feline home that she realized the kitten had been born with a cleft nose and a very small hole in her palate, rendering bottle-feeding impossible, as it would choke the baby when she tried to nurse.
Fortunately, Ashley was a veteran kitten foster and skilled at tube-feeding, which would be the saving grace for the neonate. As the little one was up against some difficult odds, Ashley chose a name that she felt would fortify the spirit of her new charge. She chose to call this baby Aela, “after a video game character I always loved, who is a strong and fierce warrior and is unique from most,” Ashley explained.
Aela’s first tube-feeding went well and the teensy feline quickly fell asleep following that meal. The kitten may have been born with some insufficiencies, but her lungs and voice were not among them. She had no qualms about informing Ashley when it was time for another tube-feeding, calling out for food when her tummy felt empty. In short order, the black pee-wee with the big spirit reached her 100-gram milestone.
Save for the need for tube-feeding, Aela is a standard-issue kitten. She loves to cuddle and really enjoys being stroked with a toothbrush, perhaps, speculates Ashley, because it mimics the feeling of her cat mother’s tongue. The little warrior princess also finds comfort in a heating pad and snuggly infant blanket. Adorable little Aela grows into her name day-by-day, showing Ashley the fiery personality and strong will of her namesake.
