As I Live and Learn

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Cat's Story

This past weekend I went down to South Carolina to visit my best friend Emily for her 21st birthday. Kevin drove down with me so I could get the drive done in one day, each way. While down there, due to circumstances beyond most's control, Emily and her fiancé were moving into their new home. We arrived to find that the previous tenants had left their cat. Only the landlord knows how long ago that was.

This poor cat was (is) noticeably thin, and didn't move too much unless it thought it was going to get food. It was so weak that it did make any noises. The lack of moving around could have been from the heat (unbearable, for us Northerners), from lack of strength for not having been fed for who knows how long, or due to its injured front paws - On Sunday, Emily's sister pointed out that one of the cat's front paws was swollen and red. It was after that we realized the paw prints on the front stoop were in dried blood. Eventually I got close enough to see that the bottom of the paw had detached.

Emily's sister and the sister's husband left out food and water for the cat on Sunday. Dog food because that's all that was available in the house. That evening the cat looked so hot and worn, and we had finally realized about its paw, that I moved the water dish over to it so it wouldn't have to move to reach water. It immediately started rubbing against my leg. Emily's best friend noticed (I found out the next morning) that the cat was looking better and had started cleaning itself, something no one had seen it do until that point.

Sunday night I was packing up my things and packing the car, and the cat was still on the porch as it had been for nearly two days now. After most of everything was done (I believe that was the timing) the group of us were hovering around the porch trying to figure plans for dinner and what hotel Kevin and I should go to afterwards. I looked down at the cat at one point, and it looked me directly in the eyes and while its mouth mouthed "meow" there was no sound. I felt the plea for help, and I was done. But didn't know what to do. I asked Emily and her fiancé to hold off on calling animal control until after I got home so I could check on shelters or other places in the area that could take it instead. She said they would fed it for a couple days to give me a chance. I cried before we left Emily's place. The poor poor thing. I wanted to take it home, to help it.

Emily and her fiancé couldn't keep the cat themselves for multiple reasons, one of which being that they have two dogs, another being that they had a huge amount of trouble trying to find a place to live with two pets (most only allowed one, if any at all). I couldn't take it either. And with it being injured, who would take it?

That night at the hotel, I wasn't falling asleep for various reasons. As I lay in bed I thought about the cat again. And I started thinking of ways that we could in fact take it home. I could buy a carrier at Walmart, go back to the house and get it, and then we'd be able to take the apparently less mountainous way back home. I'd take it to the vet to get fixed up. When we got back to Michigan I could ask my Dad and Step-Mom if they would take it to live their back yard with their two cats. I fell asleep at some point during figuring out alternatives.

The next morning I went down to breakfast first as I was all packed and set to go, and Kevin wasn't going to eat much of anything. While down there I started thinking about the cat again. When Kevin came down he asked me something along the lines of why did I look that way. I told him, "I'm thinking of going and getting the cat." For a moment he just looked at me, doubtfully it seemed. After all, nothing had changed since the day before from his perspective. He didn't ask "How?" but his look and body language did. So I told him "I could buy a cat carrier from Walmart." I expected him to say we couldn't take the cat, as had been said yesterday, or I more expected him to say that we didn't have the time, we had to get on the road to get home. Instead he said "Let's go get the cat," and leaned over to give me a hug. I was quite surprised. As much as I was floundering over the cat, I thought I didn't actually want to go get it. I was expecting him to be my excuse to not be able to go back and get the cat, and I would have been able to make peace with leaving it.

So we went and I bought a carrier, bedding, food & water dish, wet food on Kevin's recommendation, and water. I then spent a couple hours in the hotel's parking lot using their wireless access to look up no-kill shelters in the area or on our route back to Michigan. I was willing to pay for/donate for any vet bills, as well as donating the stuff just bought, but only once did I get far enough to make that offer - and was still turned down. After getting practically no where (some didn't answer their phones and promised to call back within 24 hours, other said they were full and wouldn't take another) I started checking in Michigan. Finally Kevin said we should just go get the cat, head home and figure that stuff out later. But by that point my car's battery had died (first time!). I went into the hotel to ask for a jump, and the woman behind the counter asked what I'd been doing sitting out there so long. So I told her. She called out front one of her co-workers who is a cat lover. There turned out to be two of them back there, but neither could take the cat. I did however get a recommendation to see if there was anything to give the cat for the ride so it would sleep, and one of the others knew her vet's number off the top of her head. The vet said 1/2 a tablet of 25 mg Benadryl every 8 hours would do the trick, but to make sure it was no more than that.

So back to Walmart for Benadryl, and while Kevin got that I tried calling around to everyone I could think of whom I had numbers for advise and vet recommendations and to try and contact Emily to let her know we were coming for the cat. For a while no one answered, arrgh!

We went and got the cat. To get it into the carrier, on Kevin's suggestion I put the bottom half down with the bedding in it. But of course the cat didn't know what it was. So I put the dish in there, and opened a can of food. At the sound of it opened the cat jumped up and started trying to eat it out of my hand! I managed to get it in the food dish, and moved the dish to the back of the carrier and the cat stepped most of the way into the carrier to eat. But it was so famished it was nearly done with the food by the time I had the Benadryl cut in half to try and put in the food! Thankfully I got it in there, and the cat didn't even notice the half pill it was eating (gulping) so fast. Then I took the top of the carrier and carefully rounded up the tail with it and closed the carrier on top of the cat.

After we picked up the cat, I felt SO much better. I wasn't jittery on the inside, nor slightly annoyed with the world. Kevin eventually noticed and commented too. The ride home cat-wise went well. It didn't fuss or make really any noise. It did turn around every once in a while, preferring to ride with its head near the carrier's door but the water being in the dish in the back. But it wouldn't eat while the car was moving, so for the second feeding we gave it in the car I stayed at the gas station longer to give it time to finish eating.

We didn't give the cat a name, just in case. After all we had no idea what could be wrong with it. We also didn't know if it was a boy or girl, simply because no one looked.

After we got to my place and I unpacked the car and removed things from my guest bathroom, and all of Kevin's stuff got into his car, he headed home and I took the cat up to my guest bathroom where it would stay for the night. I gave it more food, left a soft styrofoam cat bed shape thing that had been inside the bedding but was too large to fit in the carrier, and opened the vent so the air conditioning would come in.

This morning I could hear the cat meowing through the door! And when I finally went in to get it to take to the vet it was up on the sink's counter, and jumped down! It was already doing so much better this morning.

If I decide not to keep the cat myself (which right now is what I am thinking), then Kevin will keep it until it is adopted out. He says if he gets attached to it then he'll end up keeping it himself.

Now that I am understanding the trials of people trying to save animals, I also know this question will be fruitless, but does anyone want a cat once it's healthy?

Posted by: trekker9er : 2:22 PM

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