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"LIFE
SAVERS"
"Tiny
Miss Miracle"
At the same time...little did I know the League was getting papers faxed from the main branch in Boston, which would make me the first official 'foster parent' in the over 100 year history of the place! I spent almost an hour waiting for all the paperwork to come in, but by the time I left as a proud 'official' feline foster parent, "Tiny Miss Miracle" was very much alive and screaming!
Miracle and her
sister, Mindy, have now been adopted to a good home where
they both will
receive the care and love they are so richly entitled to. And, "Tiny
Miss Miracle" will never know close she was to death's door until being
placed into the loving warm hands of Jan! Or does she? You
be the judge!
Willy was rescued from the streets after an ordeal I'll never forget! When I first got wind of him, it was through a phone call to the group I work with. The woman who called was in tears, and said there was a cat hiding under a condemned home, at a busy intersection. She thought Willy had two broken legs, and stated that he had to sit up like a rabbit. She had been feeding the starving cat for two weeks and was desperate to find help for him. Our shelter is a non-profit, no-kill shelter. She was elated to have found us, as all the other groups she had contacted either wouldn't help, or would euthanize the cat.
I drove the half hour drive, stocked with every conceivable trap that I might need. Driving into the driveway, I caught sight of a pitiful cat frantically scrambling to get to safety under the house. Realizing I would not be able to use a conventional trap, as his front legs would not trigger it, I set up my widest trap and used a rope to control the door. I baited it with fresh cooked chicken and waited a distance away in my car, with my hand clinging to the rope.
A half hour passed before a very thin cat tentatively came out and headed in a shuffling motion toward the trap. I burst into tears watching this poor animal desperately scrabbling at the hard packed dirt to get to the trap. He headed in and ate a few bites of chicken, and a slight vibration of the rope apparently spooked him, and he went scrambling back under the house. Determined not to leave without him I sat and waited, tears running down my cheeks.
A truck pulled into the driveway a short time later, and a man asked me if I was the house's evicted occupant. He was from the Board of Health and was trying to help the family, which had young children, get back on their feet and back into their home. I told him why I was there and he left (but not after volunteering that there were numerous cats needing trapping in town, something I didn't want to hear!).
I waited for Willy to reappear, and a while later he started to get the courage to come back out. No sooner did that happen, when a station wagon came flying into the driveway and a very hostile man, reminiscent of Charlie Manson, got right up to my face demanding to know why I was there. I told him that a call had come into our group about a cat with a broken leg on the premises and I was called to help. He told me it was his "cat and get the $%#& off my property!" I left shaken, but more determined than ever!
For days I drove back there, always watching for his car, but didn't see Willy out after that. A month passed, and having a name and street address to go by, I drafted a bogus letter to them. I have another cat with a hind leg deformity that was also cast out into the streets as a kitten, so "Bonnie" was part of the scheme. I wrote them that she needed a companion cat and would they consider selling their cat to me. I sent pictures of Bonnie and an offer of $100.00 for their cat, knowing this family was in financial trouble. The return address I used was a friend's P.O. box in another town. I got no response.
I figured all was lost at that point, but never forgot Willy and would always detour through that neighborhood if I was nearby. Nine (9) months later a frantic call came from the same woman who had called originally. They had been looking and watching for Willy for months and figured he was dead, but he was hiding in their backyard under a truck cap! I baited my best trap ahead of time, this time mushing sardines onto the trigger so his face would trigger it, and drove off into the night, exceeding the speed limit some! They pointed to where he was, and I quietly got near his hiding spot and put the trap down carefully. After 10 minutes I heard the satisfying SNAP, and dashed across the yard to cover him and drove off elated!
I set a very traumatized cat up in a cage and carefully checked him over. His spine was sticking out from starvation, he was not neutered, and his front legs were severely crippled, with toes going in all different directions. He was terrified (understandably so!) of everything at first, but came to realize he ws going to get a nice soft bed, food and water, and lost of love every day.
He went to the vet's after he was stronger and was tested, vaccinated and most importantly neutered! His feet were examined and an ingrown toenail deep within his crippled paw was removed. After a month, he got up the courage to leave his kennel and began to explore his new home. Any little noise would send him scrambling in fear to his hiding spots. I have some area rugs, which he mostly stays on, and he has a hard time getting across the slippery floors as his front legs are useless to him. Also in the year that he has lived with me his paws have developed spurs, which are horn-like protrusions coming out of his paw pads. These can't be comfortable and I have debated about having them surgically removed.
He does have the ability to get up on the couch, but has to psyche himself up to jump down as the landing, despite carpeting, must hurt! He has very stout hind legs, which I suspect are also deformed (like a munchkin cat), but these do not seem to bother him. So, he lives his live now, neutered and loved, and with padding in his favorite spots to support his sore limbs. He terrified me not long ago while I was downstairs in the cellar! The door was open upstairs and Willy had decided to follow me down the stairs part of the way. He started to lose his balance ten stairs up and fell over the edge! Thankfully, my girlfriend saw it happening and caught him before he hit the table below and then fallen to the cement floor! I adore this 'boy' and he adores me and I cherish every day with him!
I took her home and noticed though she wanted to eat, everything she ate was violently regurgitated! A visit to the vet the next day determined she had a condition called "megaesophagus" and also a severe heart murmur. The vet advised many small meals syringe fed over the course of the day and for her to be held upright for ten minutes afterward. I fed her A.D. food mixed with dry kitten formula and agonized for days over whether or not to euthanize her. I fell head over heels in love with he tiny girl and we decided to let Mother nature decide her future! Thankfully, after a few months (and a lot of money!), her regurgitating became less pronounced. I started to wean her off of the mushy diet and onto the canned food. It worked! She can now eat regular ground cat food and has grown quite well now. She is very active and loving and gets into everything! But, I cannot spay her due to her severe heart murmur. I wake up each morning wondering if my precious "Dolly" will still be with me! Morning nose rubs tell me yes, but I know the day might come when her heart goes and with it will go mine!
Timothy was also tiny and undernourished, but had only slight curvature of his legs. His hind feet are enormous--like snowshoes! He was examined by the vet and declared healthy--to my surprise! When he was old enough, he was neutered. He doesn't seem to have much difficulty doing anything and so far at ten months, though a bit small for his age, he is developing fine.
I strongly urge the deliberate breeding of these cats to end! I cannot see anything cute or amusing about Willy having to lie on his back or sit on his haunches to relieve the pressure on his front legs. It breaks my heart and I sincerely hope that these deformities are left in Nature's hands--not the hands of 'self-proclaimed' breeders whose sole interest is to fatten their wallets!!
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