Not every story has a happy ending, and as much as we would like to tell you about the success stories, sometimes there is a situation that needs to be shared because someone may need to know. If my kitty got loose and I was desperately searching for her throughout the neighborhood, I would want to know if she was injured and a good Samaritan took her in and cared for her. And if something worse happened, I’d want to know, for closure at the very least, so I would not think my furry child was out there freezing or starving or laying in a ditch needing help.
So with that in mind, I am sad to tell you that in the last two weeks we have had two such situations. A little kitty picked up in the area of the Salvation Army, paralyzed in the back legs, belly distended, bladder full, unable to urinate. Initial assessment by the veterinarian was that even with manipulation the bladder would not empty, long, dangerous extensive surgery would be needed and then there was no guarantee of success. The decision was made to euthanize and end the suffering.
A week later another young kitten was brought in, this time from the area of the trailer park, found injured and taken directly to the vet by animal control. I won’t go into details about the injury but will only say that there was no way to repair this poor little soul.
If you live in either area and are missing a kitty, call Ramona at the Shelter at 532-2862 and she can give you a full description to see if either was your cat.
When we have situations like this, the story does not end there, it just begins. Staff will search through the records of anyone calling in missing an animal, they will check with local vets to see if they recognize the description, every effort will be made to assure that an owner is notified if at all possible.
Because, like I said, it if was my Scruffy dog, or my Holly kitty, or if it was Ramona’s dog or anyone else’s, we would want to know. Therefore we will extend the same courtesy to you that we would want for ourselves.
It’s a sad process, and most of the time we do not find an owner and nobody calls to say their kitten is missing, because it is assumed that outdoor kitties succumb to becoming prey to wildlife or getting “lost in the woods,” or other natural dangers. But for those who would be knocking on neighbor’s doors, passing out flyers, calling animal control and scouring the neighborhood, we assume they would want to know.
And before anybody asks the question, no, we are not looking for the owner to pay the vet bill, because it’s never about the money. If thousands of dollars of surgery would have been guaranteed to fix the first kitty casualty, we would have found the money somewhere. It’s not “what will it cost?” that is the issue, it is “will he/she survive and have quality of life without suffering?” That’s the goal.
Over the years we have had multiple instances of animals coming in with various injuries. My most vivid memory is of Diego, hit by a car, rushed to the vet, it was determined that he would do very well if his leg was amputated, and so it was. This was a very expensive surgery followed by a long period of rehab. Diego became a favorite among the Shelter staff and when he was adopted, a huge cheer went up. Diego’s story was so inspiring that the “Diego fund” was set up to help pay for other emergency surgeries to help assure that animals that could be saved would be saved.
For every sad ending there are a hundred happy stories, lost animals found, returned to owners, or rehomed into loving and forever homes. For every happy ending there is a family curled up at night, like myself, with my little Scruffy dog beside me, head in my lap, big brown eyes looking up at me with a “thank you” expression. (oh, okay, it’s probably a “feed me” expression but I’d like to think it’s a look of appreciation).
If you find a stray that is injured or appears to be ill, please call your animal control officer right away to come pick it up, they have the training and the equipment to find help fast, and for those of you who step up to help an injured animal, thank you so much for all you do.
