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A now-healthy and healed 11-week-old kitten meows occasionally Monday at the Animal Service Center of the Mesilla Valley. The kitten was saved after it was stabbed on Christmas Eve and is now ready to be adopted.

LAS CRUCES - Life is looking brighter for a kitten that was stabbed in the belly on Christmas Eve, possibly by its owner who suffers from mental illness.

That day, city animal control officer Ellie Choate picked up the cat from its owner, a Las Cruces man in his early 20s who suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

"I can't say for sure he did it because in his mind, he says somebody crept into his bedroom and did it while he slept with the cat," she said. "Then, he ... said: 'Well, it's guts were hanging out, so I took my cigarette lighter and burned it so it wouldn't bleed any more.'"

Indeed, the 9-week-old kitten had a gaping wound in its abdomen. Choate guessed it was made with a small, but "not very sharp" implement, such as a kitchen steak knife.

Choate took the yellow-and-white kitten to the city-county animal shelter around 10 p.m. Dec. 24, where it was met by Beth Vesco-Mock, director of the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley. She had to decide whether to euthanize it.

Fortunately for the kitten, Vesco-Mock said, the injury was limited to some tissue, called the omentum, that lines the belly cavity. None of the cat's internal organs were damaged, improving its odds of survival.

Vesco-Mock said the animal, though traumatized from its experience, "seemed like such a nice kitty."

"I said to myself: 'I don't want to kill it. Why don't we treat it?'"

So, the kitten was given antibiotics and held over the holiday weekend, until a

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contracted veterinarian, Alvaro Medina, could operate the following Monday. The kitten, a male, was neutered at the same time.

Now, the little cat is healed and awaiting adoption, Vesco-Mock said. She described its personality as "excellent" and friendly, despite what it's been through.

Meanwhile, Choate said state prosecutors decided not to pursue animal cruelty charges against the owner, who lives on Mesquite Street, because they didn't expect a case would go far due to the man's mental state.

"The best we could do is just get the animal out of the situation," she said. "I talked to his mother and explained to her that he can't own another pet."

Interested adopters must fill out a questionnaire and pay a $50 adoption fee.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443

Interested in adopting?

• What: Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley

• When: Noon to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

• Where: 3551 Bataan Memorial, Las Cruces

• Information: (575) 382-0018, ascmv.org