Yesterday, I headed over to Tod’s office to help with spring cleaning before guests start to arrive. When I alighted from the car, arms full of cleaning supplies, I heard a cat meowing loudly. So of course, I investigated.
And I found this guy, with his leg completely wound up and stuck in the blue net fence on our neighbor’s property. I got him some food while Tod found me scissors.
I thought maybe he was Chester, but he’s a different cat. A stranger.
I cut the fence and trimmed closer and closer until I couldn’t go any more. He was injured, skin and fur had rubbed away exposing his muscles, and his leg was still bound in the material, but he was no longer attached to the fence. I lured him into the big cage with more food and we drove him to the vet.
The news wasn’t good. The rope holding the fence had cut off circulation to his leg and it was dead from the joint down. He needs an amputation. We can’t release him back into the neighborhood post-surgery; he needs nursing care and a home that we aren’t able to give him.
So we left him at the vet to be given some antibiotics and rehydration in the short term. We canvassed our neighbors to see if we could find his owners but our search was not fruitful. Nobody recognised him, though we got some great cat stories from old Mrs. Yasuda; and the Koharas at the former cow farm were not answering their door – they are very private – so I left a message on their door camera. I posted his photo on Facebook, too, for what that’s worth.
So the fate of this cat – who we have known for a scant thirty minutes – is in our hands. We have decided that if we can’t find someone to care for him today, we will instruct the vet to euthanise him on Monday.
Here are my reasons for this difficult decision:
- I will not introduce him into our stable and happy clowder at home. Maura, Fritter, and Beryl do not want any new friends.
- The amount of time and attention required in socialising a feral cat and doing wound care is more than I have capacity for.
- I don’t know if he is actually a healthy beyond the leg injury.
- I have no idea what his personality and temperament are. He was weak and in need of help yesterday, so compliant and nice enough. But after recovery he could be a mean guy like many local strays.
- The cost of veterinary care for an amputation is high. Fritter’s was a couple thousand dollars, all told.
- I do not want to guilt into anyone into taking on a challenging, expensive, unknown cat if I won’t do it myself.
- If we did release him into the neighborhood as a tripod cat, the chances of his survival are pretty low.
- As much as the cat would not agree – he will want to live – having the vet put him to sleep is probably the most humane option.
Even though we have made the decision and I can feel a mental wall cutting off emotion to protect myself, I dreamed about the cat last night and I just can’t stop running the scenario through in my mind. Deciding to kill this cat is a terrible burden.
Sorry, cat. Your life took a bad turn.
CODA: After a hopeful minute that it was a neighbor’s missing cat (it wasn’t), Tod called the vet and finalised the story. I cannot regret the choice, but I am sad to have made it. We buried the unknown cat in the front garden of the office near where we found him.
Rest in Peace.
