Cat survives with only hurt pride and broken ribs!

Hey Cat lovers, I'd like to humbly request that you call upon whatever deity you can relate to in whichever manner you relate to help a cat that my dog Bodhi attacked today.

My girlfriend and I were preparing to take our dogs to the vet when they flew the coop and took off out into the neighborhood. While on the lam Bodhi and Mikey apparently found a big fat Tabby and Bodhi shook it real good. After nearly breaking my neck crossing a barbed wire fence and 40 feet of thick briars I got to the cat that was floating half dead in a creek. I jumped into the creek and tore my dog off the cat and lifted the cat out of the water, I wasn't sure if the cat was alive at this point. The dogs were'nt giving up yet and Bodhi kept jumping at the cat. My girlfriend finally got down to us and was able to distract the dogs long enough for me to walk along a downed tree out of the creek and over much of the briars while holding the cat. My girlfriend then drove the dogs back and locked them in the house and then came and picked myself and the cat up. We headed off to the vet then. The cat and I were both soaked but the cat seemed a bit better on the way. It began making some noise and was breathing. Once we got to the vet they took the cat in immediately and checked for shock and administered some pain med. They couldn't find any serious wounds and are mainly worried about damage from shaking such as neck wounds.

I've got THE best vet around. I explained the situation (and that my dogs had attacked the cat which was not mine) and accepted financial responsability for the vet bill but the vet pretty much treated it like a stray and doing it no charge.

So, please pray for this cats recovery and that it's owner will see my sign and call me.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Will do.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Thats sad, I hope it does all right. I will make sure I pray for him.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

I'm always encouraged when I hear of people who care for animals if they do matter. It was good of you to rescue the cat and take it to the vet. It was good of the vet to treat the cat without worrying about being paid.

Makes my heart glad.

Last week we lost our 18 year old cat. He just sort of wore out (many complications) and had to be put to sleep. The vet and his staff were so compasionate and understanding.... They'd been caring for him since he was diagnosed with a birth defect (brain damage) at 6 weeks old. They even cried along with us as each of them came to the exam room and said goodbye to him. After he was gone they asked if we would allow them to place him in a pet cemetary that they liked in a nearby town. I've not been so touched in years.


Thanks for spreading a little more kindness. I hope the tabby gets home OK.

Daniel

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Prayer is a powerful thing!

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Prayers sent.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Bless you for doing the right thing and getting that poor cat to the vet. I do hope that he survives and that he's reunited with his owner in good shape.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

I hope the cat isn't a stray /ferral cat and gives your dog rabies/etc !
Too many people let their cats run free as they can't be "picked up" as easy as a dog, despite the laws. The cats often suffer because of this.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

That was a kind and compassionate thing you did. Thank you for that. Prayers sent. Let us know how things turn out.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

carrot likes cat. PrayPal sent! (There really should be such a site...)

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Good of you to take responsibility for the situation. It's probably not a feral cat, but just someone's pet that they allow to be outside. A feral cat would have tore you up. Have you any idea who owns the cat yet?

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

This was a great thing for you to do, xochi. I hope the cat makes a full recoverery, and you either find his owner, find him a good home, or give him one yourself. My mom has found homes for probably 20 cats over the years. We always have strays hanging around our house. Sometimes they'll get friendly and we feed them, or they'll have kittens in one of our basement window wells. We've found homes for many of those kittens, and also took some in ourselves. Recently my sister found a mother cat and three kittens. She kept two, we kept the mother and the third kitten.

Sorry to hear about your loss, gadget_lover. I've been through that twice in the last few years although ours died a natural death. First Tiger went in October 2002 and then Suzette in August of 2003. Tiger's littermate Lucky is still around, but at 18 and half she's on borrowed time. No signs yet of going, but we all know it's probably only a matter of a year or two at best.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Prayers sent. That was very noble of you to rescue the little beast.

Geoff

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

...what about the dogs...

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

You did a good thing, I will pray the cat will recover and be reunited with its owner.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Well, we found the owner and just got back from the vet and the cat is doing fine! I didn't realize how fat that cat was! Apparently it's name was "Nubbie" but it looks more like a "Jabba". The cat came home with just some broken ribs and the lady and I split the bill so it only cost us $75 each. Nubbie will from now on be an indoor cat so it's possible this incident saved his life as we've got a bunch of Coyotes that have moved into the southeast over the past 5-10 years. Judging from the number of signs looking for cats and small dogs, coyotes aren't protein deficient.

Yay! Go cat!

that's great :goodjob:

the dogs and coyotes won't be a problem IF Nubie becomes a %100 indoor cat...which I have my doubts about happening. How is the cat not going to drive it's waiters (that's what I call 'owners' ) crazy with meowing and longing to go out as usual and prowl as I assume it's been doing for years...?

I face the same problem every day with coyotes. Even though my cat goes out in the morning and comes in by sunset, wears a tracking collar, and gets checked on often, the coyotes some times come close by the house in the daytime when they 'aren't allowed' -- I've shot at them but haven't had the heart to hit them..yet..but I don't want my kitty to be lunch.. but what can I do?

meow.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Hooray! Sound slike a good result for everyone.

I agree with Ted that the cat is still going to be pining to go outside sometimes. Heck, with the sunshine, soft grass and all those birds to chase, that's a real playground for him. The owner is going to have to work at making the indoors more interesting than the outdoors - new catnip toys, squeaky toys, maybe even some of those kitty videos with closeup shots of birds, mice and other interesting creatures.

Re: Prayers, spells etc. for Cat

Some cats take to indoor life quite readily. We have Russion Blue that was living on our back deck. He'd discovered that our bird feeders made a good bird feeder, if you get my drift. He was living on the birds he caught. We dubbed him Birdie Bandit. Despite my advice, the wife started to feed him. He became friends with one of my other cats through the glass door. They'd lay in the sunshine together, seperated by a sheet of glass.

Wife took him to the vet, got a clean bill of health and he bacame an indoor cat that day.

Bandit is quite happy inside. He's put on 10 pounds in two years. He still spends much of his day laying in the sunshine. The only times he tries to slip through a door is if we leave it open for an extended period of time, as when dealing with the girl scout cookie salesgirl.

The key appears to be that you never, ever give into the meowing. Just once and they will have it in their head that it's the way to open doors.

Daniel