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POPSTale of half-frozen cat named Icee
Over the next few hours, Steinbeiser and shelter workers keep substituting warm towels for the ones that have cooled down, a never-ending relay from the laundry room to the office where they've set up the temporary kitty ICU. They inject subcutaneous fluids. A dehydrated cat can't maintain its body temperature, and this was clearly a dehydrated cat, maybe so dehydrated there's been organ damage. By afternoon, he is stirring a bit when people approach, opening his eyes, reaching out a paw. They substitute the warmed-towel approach with a cozy crate next to a heater. He looks somewhat more alert. But his heartbeat remains erratic. The tension that's been swirling about the shelter for the last 36 hours dissipates. The staff, a little emotional about the miracle that blew in with first big snowstorm of the season, names him Icee. Now the little black and white cat, about 3 or 4 years old, is prowling the cat room, healthy, plumped up, personable and waiting for a home. "He is," sa