Big Guy is a semi-feral cat who found his way out to our land all on his own several months ago. At the time, he was completely feral, and it took several months before he would come near us, and even more before we had even the slightest chance of petting him. Recently, though, he’d become quite brave, allowing me and my mother to pet him, and even to pick him up! (Well, he really did not enjoy being picked up, but at least he let me do it.)
Every day when I go out to the land and call, the kitties all come running from every direction. They watch as I feed the horses, then follow me eagerly over to “their” part of the land – the buildings where they’re fed. Friendly and feral cat alike do this every day. Sunday, I noticed that Big Guy wasn’t around. Now, these critters have plenty of land in which to roam, so if one doesn’t show up for dinner one night, it’s not usually an issue. However, when Big Guy wasn’t there on Monday, I began to worry.
The last thing I do every day before leaving the land is to pump water into the horses’ trough. The trough is near the north fence, and beyond that is a tangled wilderness of pine trees, palmetto, and blackberry bushes. As I approached the pump, I noticed what looked to be a cat, lying in the brush. I walked to the fence for a closer look, and sure enough – it was Big Guy. My immediate thought was that he was dead. I called to him and he didn’t respond. So, I went out the front gate and traipsed through a rather extensive bit of brush and blackberry bushes (which, for those who don’t know, are riddled with thorns) to where I’d seen Big Guy.
As I drew closer, he lifted his head and struggled into a sitting position; I could see that one of his front legs was swollen and bleeding. Feral cat or no, I wasn’t going to leave him out there. I scooped him up and carried him back out, through the tangle of thorny blackberries, to my car. I did not have a cat-crate with me. What I did have, was a pit bull. Now, Brin loves kitties, and Big Guy and Brin had met before on numerous occasions, but it was clear that the kitty did not want to get into the car or be anywhere near the dog… much less get into the car with the dog! Nonetheless, I managed to get all of us inside, at which point Big Guy urinated a copious amount all over me and the driver’s seat of my car. Then we drove to my house.
Once I got Big Guy inside, he was amazingly well-behaved – especially for an injured semi-feral! I placed him in my bathroom sink and examined his wounds. Something – probably a dog, though possibly another cat – had managed to sink its teeth into both his front legs, creating three nasty punctures in each, all of which had abscessed. I did my best to drain and clean each injury, and he was very patient with me. When I was finished, he downed a bowl of canned catfood, and snuggled into a laundry basket for the evening
Every day when I go out to the land and call, the kitties all come running from every direction. They watch as I feed the horses, then follow me eagerly over to “their” part of the land – the buildings where they’re fed. Friendly and feral cat alike do this every day. Sunday, I noticed that Big Guy wasn’t around. Now, these critters have plenty of land in which to roam, so if one doesn’t show up for dinner one night, it’s not usually an issue. However, when Big Guy wasn’t there on Monday, I began to worry.
The last thing I do every day before leaving the land is to pump water into the horses’ trough. The trough is near the north fence, and beyond that is a tangled wilderness of pine trees, palmetto, and blackberry bushes. As I approached the pump, I noticed what looked to be a cat, lying in the brush. I walked to the fence for a closer look, and sure enough – it was Big Guy. My immediate thought was that he was dead. I called to him and he didn’t respond. So, I went out the front gate and traipsed through a rather extensive bit of brush and blackberry bushes (which, for those who don’t know, are riddled with thorns) to where I’d seen Big Guy.
As I drew closer, he lifted his head and struggled into a sitting position; I could see that one of his front legs was swollen and bleeding. Feral cat or no, I wasn’t going to leave him out there. I scooped him up and carried him back out, through the tangle of thorny blackberries, to my car. I did not have a cat-crate with me. What I did have, was a pit bull. Now, Brin loves kitties, and Big Guy and Brin had met before on numerous occasions, but it was clear that the kitty did not want to get into the car or be anywhere near the dog… much less get into the car with the dog! Nonetheless, I managed to get all of us inside, at which point Big Guy urinated a copious amount all over me and the driver’s seat of my car. Then we drove to my house.
Once I got Big Guy inside, he was amazingly well-behaved – especially for an injured semi-feral! I placed him in my bathroom sink and examined his wounds. Something – probably a dog, though possibly another cat – had managed to sink its teeth into both his front legs, creating three nasty punctures in each, all of which had abscessed. I did my best to drain and clean each injury, and he was very patient with me. When I was finished, he downed a bowl of canned catfood, and snuggled into a laundry basket for the evening
This morning, I noticed that one of his back feet looked large and deformed. At first I thought that perhaps he did indeed have a deformed foot… but when I touched it, it was hot… and he reacted rather violently to my attempts to inspect it. So, after that I took him to the vet. I had to drop him off to go to work/school, but the vet called a couple of hours later to update me.
He said the wounds had been inflicted by another cat, and that in order to treat all of his various injuries, they would need to sedate him. He also suggested that while he was under sedation he go ahead and neuter him - in order to curb his enthusiasm for future catfights. Unfortunately, the local vet is not cheap; however, given that he was already going to be under anaesthetic and given that I'd like him to be traumatized as little as possible, I agreed. I suspect Big Guy is going to be VERY cranky when all of this is over!
2 comments:
He is a VERY lucky cat!
looks old cat.. but cute..
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