Bobcat kitten hit by car seen ‘dragging herself’ on road in Virginia. See her recovery
A wild bobcat kitten is making progress on her healing journey after being struck by a car in Virginia, rescuers say.
The bobcat was discovered near Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains by a “kind citizen” who noticed the baby seemed injured, according to an Oct. 28 Facebook post from Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke.
Now, a few weeks later, the kitten is making several steps in the right direction of recovery, the center said in a Nov. 15 post.
As several cars whizzed by, the bobcat kitten was “weakly dragging herself” along the road before the woman who spotted the baby came to the rescue, the wildlife center said. She picked up the baby and made a call to the wildlife center, it said in the post, which then stepped in to see if it could help save the bobcat’s life.
After an examination, the wildlife center determined the kitten was most likely struck in the face by a car, leaving her with “one heck of a concussion and some broken teeth,” the organization said. Those serious injuries put the baby “on death’s door,” unable to even sit up, the organization said.
The baby underwent extensive treatment, including “fluid therapy, oxygen treatment, and several life-saving medications,” according to the center. Battling anemia, general weakness and not being “out of the woods” at first, the kitten still managed to eat and get up a bit following her medical treatment, the organization said.
A couple days later, the wildlife center provided a positive update on the bobcat kitten who was frequently sleeping but “doing well.” Another good sign was the baby’s choice to start growling at the organization’s staff when she saw them, according to the center.
“Hopefully this little one will make it on the mend soon and have a long, long life in the wild where she belongs,” the center wrote in its Oct. 30 Facebook post.
In its most recent update, the wildlife center announced the bobcat kitten was “no longer on death’s door,” although she still was dealing with some head trauma from the accident.
In a big step forward, the baby ventured outside for the first time since being hit, which was an opportunity for wildlife staff to observe her locomotive abilities, according to the organization.
Her appetite has also grown over the past few weeks — both for her meals and adventure. The bobcat has been “guzzling food down,” and she’s taken risks in jumping out of her container to explore the outdoor habitat.
The zoo plans to post more videos of the bobcat’s recovery process that it says “will melt the heart of any cat lover.”
The kitten isn’t the wildlife center’s first baby bobcat rescue either — she’s the third wild bobcat kitten under the organization’s care this year, according to its post.
This story was originally published November 20, 2023 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Bobcat kitten hit by car seen ‘dragging herself’ on road in Virginia. See her recovery."
