This Was My Day..... and all before 9AM
We have a lot of feral cats around the area I work. Some are feral from birth, others are dumped and abandoned pets. We, and the business across from us, feed them, make sure they have water. Over the last few months, we've been working with the lady assigned to this area by Best Friends (which is an amazing organization, and one I've supported for many years.), to trap, spay, release, so we don't find anymore litters of newborn kittens. So that's the backstory.
This morning, we came to work, and there was a considerable amount of blood at the top part of the driveway/building. The VP of our company was making his quarterly visit, so I planned to do a tour of the area after I got the office day started, dreading what I thought I'd find, but knowing it had to be done. Neither my boss or my assistant - the ones who had discovered the blood - had seen anything around that area. About twenty minutes later, two of my techs came in to get me telling me there was a cat dragging itself by its front feet, at the other end of the building, in amongst the ladders and stuff we keep there, and they think she was hit by a car. I run out, see the cat, see her ear is tipped, telling me she's one of the ferals that have been trapped and released. Her back legs aren't moving, and there's blood on them. I want to help, but also don't want to be bitten by an injured wild animal. But she doesn't try and get away from me, she's actually trying to pull herself closer. So I throw caution to the wind and get down on the ground with her, and still no growling or fear. She then presses herself against my leg. I immediately start stroking her and she even starts to try and purr. I tell the techs to get M, my assistant out here so she can help (she's been part of the trapping enterprise.) I tell M to bring out the trap we have in the office, and the sheet that covers it so I can wrap her ad put her in till we can get help. Kittie lets me wrap her up, lets me pick her up, showing no fear. I place her in the cage, and M gives her some cat food, which she starts to scarf down. M gets a hold of the Best Friends rep, R, and she drops everything to come out to us. She calls a local rescue contact first, but is told no vet in St George will even look at a feral cat. So she calls Best Friends, and they have her examine the cat as best she can and tell them what she's seeing. They say, bring her in. Now the sanctuary is two hours from us, in Kanab, but R just canceled her planned day and said she'd take her in.
This afternoon, we got a call, and the kittie made it! She has a fractured pelvis, and something else I couldn't make out on the speaker phone. One leg will never work again, and she'll need physical therapy. There's also the possibility she'll be incontinent. So, they asked me if I'd be willing to take her if she isn't incontinent (her bladder would have to be manually emptied several times a day, and I'm at work.) They said she was an angel the entire time with the vets and clinic staff, and that she'll never be an outdoor cat again, but because of her behaviour, she will adapt to being a pet. Of course, if it works out, I'll take her. We're bonded now, just holding her tiny broken body. She trusted me at her most vulnerable. I started to cry when they called and said they were able to help her.
So that was my day. I need a drink now!
This morning, we came to work, and there was a considerable amount of blood at the top part of the driveway/building. The VP of our company was making his quarterly visit, so I planned to do a tour of the area after I got the office day started, dreading what I thought I'd find, but knowing it had to be done. Neither my boss or my assistant - the ones who had discovered the blood - had seen anything around that area. About twenty minutes later, two of my techs came in to get me telling me there was a cat dragging itself by its front feet, at the other end of the building, in amongst the ladders and stuff we keep there, and they think she was hit by a car. I run out, see the cat, see her ear is tipped, telling me she's one of the ferals that have been trapped and released. Her back legs aren't moving, and there's blood on them. I want to help, but also don't want to be bitten by an injured wild animal. But she doesn't try and get away from me, she's actually trying to pull herself closer. So I throw caution to the wind and get down on the ground with her, and still no growling or fear. She then presses herself against my leg. I immediately start stroking her and she even starts to try and purr. I tell the techs to get M, my assistant out here so she can help (she's been part of the trapping enterprise.) I tell M to bring out the trap we have in the office, and the sheet that covers it so I can wrap her ad put her in till we can get help. Kittie lets me wrap her up, lets me pick her up, showing no fear. I place her in the cage, and M gives her some cat food, which she starts to scarf down. M gets a hold of the Best Friends rep, R, and she drops everything to come out to us. She calls a local rescue contact first, but is told no vet in St George will even look at a feral cat. So she calls Best Friends, and they have her examine the cat as best she can and tell them what she's seeing. They say, bring her in. Now the sanctuary is two hours from us, in Kanab, but R just canceled her planned day and said she'd take her in.
This afternoon, we got a call, and the kittie made it! She has a fractured pelvis, and something else I couldn't make out on the speaker phone. One leg will never work again, and she'll need physical therapy. There's also the possibility she'll be incontinent. So, they asked me if I'd be willing to take her if she isn't incontinent (her bladder would have to be manually emptied several times a day, and I'm at work.) They said she was an angel the entire time with the vets and clinic staff, and that she'll never be an outdoor cat again, but because of her behaviour, she will adapt to being a pet. Of course, if it works out, I'll take her. We're bonded now, just holding her tiny broken body. She trusted me at her most vulnerable. I started to cry when they called and said they were able to help her.
So that was my day. I need a drink now!