REDWOOD CITY — A kitten covered in indigo fabric dye underwent emergency abdominal surgery and was showing signs of improvement Sunday after its health took a bad turn.

Smurf, an 8-week-old kitten brought to the 9 Lives Foundation shelter on Monday after being found abandoned and covered in dye on San Jose, ate “like a champ,” Sunday morning, according to a post by the shelter on its Facebook page. The update followed one detailing the surgery vets performedon the kitten Saturday night after it became “quite depressed and withdrawn” Friday. Veterinarians Dr. Monica Rudiger and Dr. Julie Desai took X-rays of the abdominal cavity to see if bite wounds suffered by the kitten and treated by the vets may have become infected, according to the post.

The exploratory surgery revealed that there was no infection in the kitten’s abdominal cavity, as feared, and that Smurf did not have any internal damage. According to the post, the doctors then repaired Smurf’s hind leg/knee injury, allowing him to extend his hip fully.

The 9 Lives Foundation also posted a video on its page showing Smurf giving another cat, a blind one named Wanda, a massage with its paws.

An anonymous rescuer found the kitten in a box on Monterey Road in San Jose, along with lemon slices and purple rags. The person took the kitten to the San Jose Animal Shelter, which contacted the 9 Lives Foundation, a no-kill foundation dedicated to treating injured cats and placing them into a good home.

Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH