Injured feral cat

jaded_pause

Hello, there are a number of feral cats in my area that I and a few of my neighbours feed daily, they're almost as well looked after as my indoor cat! One of them, a black female had disappeared for a few days, I assumed she might be in heat and off to find herself a beau, I spoke to one of my wonderful neighbours last night and she informed me that she had in fact seen the cat yesterday morning, and lo and behold, I'm after giving her her supper this evening. Unfortunately she seems to have injured her back left leg, she can't walk on it at all, I would hate for her to be in such pain for the long term as it heals. My local SPCA are wonderful with ferals, and have a seriously underfunded T/N/R scheme but do the best they can with the little resources available to them. My question is, should I try to contact them and see if they can help her? If I could, I'd have her scooped up to my local vet in the morning, but I can barely afford to keep myself fed at the moment, so if I contact the SPCA, will my door be knocked on to find payment for her treatment?

I'm at a loss, my heart is breaking for her, she's a really sweet cat, who would make a wonderful pet given the opportunity, she's barely feral at all, but if I could afford to help her privately I would in a heartbeat. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated, thank you so very much.

awanderer

I am not entirely positive but I believe that the answer of the SPCA depends a lot on the area where you live. I called the local one when I found a kitten in bad shape and they took over from then on but had I contacted the SPCA from the precious county I lived in, I am sure they wouldn't have done as much ; not because of bad will but because they were overwhelmed and underfunded. In the area where I live now there is a very efficient dog rescue and I believe that it alows the SPCA to prioritize cats welfare.

Is there no other rescues (than Spca) specializing in cats welfare in your area?

jaded_pause

awanderer wrote: »

I am not entirely positive but I believe that the answer of the SPCA depends a lot on the area where you live. I called the local one when I found a kitten in bad shape and they took over from then on but had I contacted the SPCA from the precious county I lived in, I am sure they wouldn't have done as much ; not because of bad will but because they were overwhelmed and underfunded. In the area where I live now there is a very efficient dog rescue and I believe that it alows the SPCA to prioritize cats welfare.

Is there no other rescues (than Spca) specializing in cats welfare in your area?

Not that I am aware of. Midlands, there's a couple of small rescue places, but I've a feeling I'm going to be redirected back to the local SPCA for help, I'll make a few phone calls tomorrow and see what happens, thanks for your reply, awanderer

awanderer

jaded_pause wrote: »

Not that I am aware of. Midlands, there's a couple of small rescue places, but I've a feeling I'm going to be redirected back to the local SPCA for help, I'll make a few phone calls tomorrow and see what happens, thanks for your reply, awanderer

I do not know much about the Midlands unfortunately but I am sure that, in the morning, someone will be able to pm you the name of a rescue or at least give you a more useful reply. Well done for caring for feral cats though. The poor little guys really have a tough life .

awanderer

Any news? Was anyone able to help you/the little injured cat?

jaded_pause

Hello! I'm just off the phone with my local SPCA, and I have nothing but praise for the chap, he said he'd have no time tomorrow to bring the cat up himself but if I brought her to the vet the SPCA will look after all the bills for her, so she has one more night of her poorly leg and then tomorrow she'll be whisked up to the vets and treated like the little princess she is. He said if they have to operate on her they'll spay her at the same time, so her future is looking brighter and brighter! Thanks so much for your concern awonderer

awanderer

That is great! I believe that being spayed is the best thing that can happen to a female feral cat, so her injury might have been a blessing in disguise after all.

I was worried when I saw that none has replied to the thread but I guess that, with Christmas so close, people have much less time to check on the forum.

jaded_pause

awanderer wrote: »

That is great! I believe that being spayed is the best thing that can happen to a female feral cat, so her injury might have been a blessing in disguise after all.

I was worried when I saw that none has replied to the thread but I guess that, with Christmas so close, people have much less time to check on the forum.

Your advice and kindness was more than adequate. I can't thank you enough, you gave me the push I needed to do something for her and you're right, it's probably a blessing in disguise for her. Thanks again!

aonb

To all the people out there who are kind, feed, take care of feral cats/stray dogs/unloved animals I wish you nothing but health and happiness and squillions of Brownie Points for being the good/kind/caring/decent human being you very obviously are!

jaded_pause

Just a quick update for today, I went out this morning and called her from out of her bush, she hobbled over and got a little scratch behind the ears. I asked her if she's ready for her adventure, she gave me a little meow. So I scooped her up carefully and gently, and shoved her face first into a carrier box. At this stage she flat out declined my offer for adventure and stated she would rather I fed her instead. I encouraged her with a little butt-push into her adventure-box and apologised because I'm obviously not sticking to our previous agreement of ear scratches, food and a couple of hours on the rug in front of the fire. Off we went up on our walk up to the vet, she was adamant I was to bring her home immediately and how could I even dare treat her this way, to which I said "WHO'S A PRETTY GIRL?! YOU'RE A PRETTY GIRL!" She was then deposited at the Vets, and I called about an hour and a half later, the vet was busy so I'm still waiting a call back. If I hear nothing by 5.30 pm I'll ring again to see how she is.

It struck me today also that she doesn't have a name. I just call her my precious kitty. Poor girl, and she's so lovely too. I'm feeling damn good about making sure her life is a little less hard by getting her help, and as for the SPCA, they're saints and I love them desperately for helping my wee precious.

I'll update again maybe later if I hear from the Vets or tomorrow if I have time. Thanks for your kind words aonb, sure just because they're stray doesn't mean they're not loved

jaded_pause

Another quick update on preciouskitty, she's spending the christmas period at the vets, unfortunately, she had 2 fractures on her shin bone that had already started to heal. They had a couple of options, an expensive and dangerous operation involving re-breaking her leg to set it again, and since the bill will be footed by the SPCA, this was not favoured at all, second option was to amputate, which again, certainly wouldn't be ideal for a feral cat, as you could guess. The third, and preferred option was to keep her enclosed for a few weeks while her leg heals, and douse her with love and affection daily.

I don't have the space or time to look after her properly, so it was a bit of a panic to figure out aftercare for her. I called on neighbourino #1, who said although she doesn't mind feeding and looking at the cats outisde, she was absolutely not interested in looking after one INSIDE. Fair enough, can't argue with that. I wont lie, I was a little bit disappointed. Anyway, plenty of other neighbours who help feed el gatos! So we called on neighbourino #2. She's an elderly lady, 81 in February! But a desperately kind woman, whose husband is ill at the moment, I know she would have had her in her spare room in a heartbeat if he wasn't, but she has nurses and doctors coming and going, and having an extra patient is not ideal. After we had a bit of a chat we both realised the apartment between us was unoccupied. So we wondered if the caretaker (another desperately kind man) would allow us to use it as a little hospital for her, with 3 of us going in every few hours, checking she's ok, offering ear scratches and cleaning out any poops that have accumulated in her poopy box. SUCCESS! The caretaker agreed, the apartment will be vacant until the end of January more than likely, because of maintenance etc.

So this sunday evening, I shall be updating with pictures of said patient in said makeshift Kitty Hotel.

jaded_pause

Hello all, I just wanted to let you know that I don't have PreciousKitty back yet, she's staying with the SPCA til Wednesday, apologies for not updating last night! I called the Vet and they said they can't discharge on Sunday, which is fine, so I called again today and they said that she was already gone since Christmas Eve. The update I received off the SPCA however is adorable and lovely, she's in a nice warm garage and getting all the food she can wrap her face around, she's purring at them when they pet her and she is thoroughly loving the attention. She's spending most of her time laying around and being loved on, and she's getting a good rest where she is. So they decided just to keep her for a few more days, I think they think I might just throw her out on her ear before she's ready, they're doing what they think is right, but gosh I miss her, I just want to give her hugs! I bought her a special dish today, it's pink, has princesses written on it and is too cute! Hopefully I will be able to update with pics when she comes home on Wed.

Love PreciousKitty & Jaded xxx

jaded_pause

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour and privilege to introduce the wriggliest, lovin', snuggin', huggin', purrin'-machine, most PreciousKitty that ever was. She was just SO happy to be home! She is fixed, no more baby-makin' for this young lady. She said the service she received staying with the SPCA was second only to the cooking (wet food, and who am I kidding, steak and/or chicken at least once a week.) she is used to here. She also said whatever pain medication the vets had her on were second to none, with a sly wink

The SPCA were just amazingly lovely people, they left a TONNE of food and litter for Her Ladyship and the rest of my outside bambinos to chow down on, they were so kind and caring, a real honour to be working with them in some small way.

So without further a-do, here she is. (Also serious apologies for the terrible focus of the camera, she was one serious snugglebunny!)






What a little grumpy face!


Quick wash, humans are unclean ya know!


And the money shot!

Once again, thank you all for your kind words and well wishes for Precious, please believe me when I say she deserves them!

PreciousKitty & Jaded xxx

ncur

Delighted for her! I hope you enjoy her company, she does seem like a sweetie, and a very lucky cat indeed.

Azalea

Good god she is beautiful!

aonb

LOVELY story with a happy ending - squillions of brownie points to you for your rescue and care of the beautiful PK

intheclouds

What a gorgeous girl!

Well done on rescuing her!

jaded_pause

Thanks everyone for the kind words! She's a darling, she really is. I go in to check on her every 2 hours, to make sure she's ok, to make sure her poopybox isn't poopy, and to love on her, she especially likes this part. She has taken to throwing herself on my lap and we cuddle for 10 minutes. She also drools. I have drool on my person 90% of the time now, but it's so cute! She has breakfast and dinner consisting of Felix cat food, and biscuits to munch on during the day. She's such a dote, I can't tell you how sweet she is, all she wants is love and cuddles. Because using her back leg hurts, she can't get enough of scratches especially on her left side, on the chin, neck, ear. Man oh man she looooves her some scratches! And she doesn't even complain when I close the door on her kitty-prison, she just sits in her bed and makes bread. She's just such a good cat!

Nody

Sounds great OP but if possible I'd look at upgrading that cat food asap; felix (along with Whiskas, Tesco branded etc.) are really at the lowest rung of the totem pole when it comes to food quality. For the same money you can buy for example Bozita (pet stores may stock it and zooplus.ie do stock it). Oh and cuddles on neck, ear and chin? Yea, I got 5 cats who are healthy who'd swear they could not get to those spots either

jaded_pause

Nody wrote: »

Sounds great OP but if possible I'd look at upgrading that cat food asap; felix (along with Whiskas, Tesco branded etc.) are really at the lowest rung of the totem pole when it comes to food quality. For the same money you can buy for example Bozita (pet stores may stock it and zooplus.ie do stock it). Oh and cuddles on neck, ear and chin? Yea, I got 5 cats who are healthy who'd swear they could not get to those spots either

Thanks for the advice! It was the SPCA who gave me that wet food but it's almost gone now, so I will buy a better brand for her probably tomorrow, I don't mind spending the money on it, as my own furball has extremely specific tastes when it comes to food, so I'd be spending it anyway :pac:

taytobreath

this thread made me smile from ear to ear.

awanderer

taytobreath wrote: »

this thread made me smile from ear to ear.

Great isn't it ? . I have the feeling that very soon PreciousKitty will be feral no more . Jaded_pause: thank you for not giving up on the gorgeous cat. She had everything against her being born feral, female and black (black cats often have problems finding homes). If it wasn't for you, she probably would have had a short, miserable life and disappeared without anyone noticing.

jaded_pause

awanderer wrote: »

Great isn't it ? . I have the feeling that very soon PreciousKitty will be feral no more . Jaded_pause: thank you for not giving up on the gorgeous cat. She had everything against her being born feral, female and black (black cats often have problems finding homes). If it wasn't for you, she probably would have had a short, miserable life and disappeared without anyone noticing.

Awh shucks, thanks guys It's sort of dangerous for me to be looking after her, I'm falling more and more in love with her every time I go into her Alas, if I had a bigger home she would absolutely be homeless no more. Hopefully, with the help of the SPCA she will be re-homed after her stint in Kittycat prison hospital It'll be a hard day for me when she does go, I'll not lie.

Her favourite thing to do is sit on my chest and drool, kneed with her paws, and get loved on. She's the very definition of a love-bug, and I think with the promise of wet food, twice daily and regular scratches, she'd be anyone's!

jaded_pause

Hilarious update #9283457: Just went in to say goodnight to Herself, and she was apparently too comfortable to get up. She motioned towards her empty food bowl and looked at me as if to say "Ah, excellent, it's empty. Get cracking monkey, with your opposable thumbs." So as the diligent slave I am, I refilled the food with her dry biscuits. She purred her thanks, as she reached the, must be about 6 inches from her bed to her dish, with little success of reaching her goal, and looked at me as if I'd not only insulted her but her entire ancestry for hundreds of thousands of years. Apologetically, I moved the dish right next to her bed, which she could then reach with such little effort, minus effort in fact, head at a 45 degree angle, hanging over the edge of her bed as she ate, without moving a muscle. I've never been so disappointed that I didn't have my phone with me to snap a picture! Such is the life of a Precious Kitty

jaded_pause

A lot of things happened today. Firstly, we found out little PreciousKitty could no longer stay in the apartment since the owners wanted to get it back on the market sooner than we'd anticipated. I was a little worried about her, but she was starting to walk on her back leg since tuesday or wednesday, she was starting to put more weight on it. She'll be grand I said. The SPCA said to try get a nice picture of her so we could try get a home, but under no circumstances was I to get my hopes up, she's a black cat, notoriously difficult to re-home. So after I'd cleared out all her things from the apartment, I figured I'd put my girly into my bedroom and bring Precious into my sitting room, we'd try for a photo shoot. She let me take 1 photo before she got utterly bored of that idea. Ok so I have one photo to work with, my words will have to sell her. (although to be fair, the one photo I got of her is ridiculous!)



Less than an hour of the SPCA sharing my post, I got the news. The. News. "Jaded," the SPCA lady said, "Is it ok if I pass your phone number on to a chap, he'd like to talk to you about the cat."

Long story short, PreciousKitty is going to her forever home tomorrow evening. She has a family, she has a warm fire and food waiting for her, she has children who will dote on her until she is old and done with life. My heart is heavy writing this, knowing I only have one more night and some of tomorrow to love on her. But it's also soaring, knowing with just a few small actions, this seriously adorable cat is going to live a nice and happy life, free from stress, food-shortage and hate from idiots who don't like cats (especially black ones.)

So thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for sharing this journey with us. We both appreciate the love and support you have offered us. I'll be here but Precious Kitty is off on her next big adventure!

Jaded & Precious xxx

intheclouds

What a lovely ending. She is so gorgeous, I'm really pleased that she has found her forever home.

You saved her. You're a good person.

aonb

intheclouds wrote: »

What a lovely ending. She is so gorgeous, I'm really pleased that she has found her forever home.

You saved her. You're a good person.

Well done! So great to hear a happy ending. I hope her new family love her to bits, and she lives happily ever after