I took it the vet, who said it was a boy-kitten, approximately 8 weeks old, and in good health. He wormed it and got rid of some ear mites.

Taking him to the vet was fun, because I didn't have a cat basket. I had to fence him in at the back, and hope he didn't escape!



The odd thing was that the vet was pretty sure that until the previous 24-48 hours he was well looked after, and after taking him back home that seemed even more likely.

He developed properly, he was not malnourished, he had no obvious signs of worms or any other parasites, and no obvious fleas.



Back in my flat, he ate and lapped kitten milk quite happily, maybe he had been just shocked earlier (being tied up in a black bin bag with a dead sibling would be quite a nasty experience!) And he used a litter tray with no need for training or encouraging him to do so.

He seemed bright and curious, and he liked people - he purred when he was stroked, and climbed all over people to check them out.



He was not actually a black kitten either - when we washed him at the vet's,

he turned out to be a white kitten all over apart from a tabby-black tail

and a small black splodge between his ears; he's the whitest cat I'd

seen.



It seems that he was socialised, so must have spent his early weeks being nicely looked after by people - yet suddenly he is tied in a sack with his sibling and left to die.

I wonder what tale of human heartache might lie behind Elijah's brush with death?