DeliCATe Rescue!

After a day of fun but stressful wildlife rescue with TWC I long to see some healthy animals in their natural habitat so I took a few backroads home, hoping to see just that. After several unsuccessful attempts I made my last turn and drove toward a prime coyote field and...finally I saw a critter!

I went through my mental wildlife library trying to place it...squatted down in the mud, white, fluffy...hmmm.  I pulled to the side of the road quietly waiting until it turned around.  When it finally did, my heart sank.  It was a purebred white Himalayan cat alone in the middle of nowhere, and it was a mess.  The look on its face said "please help me" and "please don't come near me" at the same time.

One of her eyes looked infected, she seemed depressed and her fur looked horrible. I slowly approached her to see how she would react and when she turned around to run from me I then realized how bad it was.  She was scampering and dragging her back end - she was mobile but her legs weren't really working.

I then realized I had one more rescue of the night or I couldn't live with myself so I got my net out and ran toward her. She scampered as fast as she could (which wasn't that fast) and I was able to net her. 

I never thought my rescue day at TWC would end up like this!

She remained under the net growling and hissing while I ran back to my Jeep to assemble a kennel cab.  To my relief, after a few minutes I was able to coax her from the net into the cab.  She scampered into the cab for safety - I had her!   Whew!  After a few phone calls I was happy to learn that an on-call staff member from Pickering Animal Services was willing to meet me and scan her to see if she was chipped.

To my surprise, I heard some sweet m-e-o-ws from the back of my Jeep, totally different from the growling and hissing I'd  heard a few minutes earlier.  I opened the hatch and there was this beautiful kitty rubbing her cheeks and chin along the bars, wanting me to pat her!  I gave her head scritchies and she started purring and looking so grateful for the warmth of the blanket and the safety of the kennel cab. That was the first time I realized that maybe her injuries only seemed severe, maybe she would be okay!

You can see her poor condition, with bare and matted underbelly.

When Jen from Animal Services arrived we took her inside and she was scanned (unfortunately no chip) and we discovered that the likely reason she couldn't walk is because she had mats underneath, as large and as hard as pingpong balls from front legs to tail - hopefully that is the only reason she can't properly walk.

Jen put her into a very cozy cage with more food than a hungry kitty could want.  It didn't take a second before her dirty face was in the bowls.  She was ravenous!

In order to be in the condition she was in, she was either badly neglected or on her own for a very long time, and how this declawed, luxurious puffball of a cat survived in farmers fields with predators is beyond me.

Last I saw her she was still eating and seemed very grateful for the hospitality.

She will need to be shaved, then spayed or neutered (if necessary), microchipped, given any medical attention and if unclaimed, will be ready for adoption in five days.

If it weren't for Osgrrr (canine king of the cat haters) I would take her in a heartbeat. 

IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO HAS LOST A HIMALAYAN CAT IN NORTH PICKERING THEY NEED TO CALL PICKERING ANIMAL SERVICES RIGHT AWAY:
905-683-7575.

Huge thanks to Jen and Pickering Animal Services - it was so nice to see how genuinely concerned she was about this kitty's well-being. 

I left feeling so relieved...a really happy ending!