Tuesday, July 26, 2011

No Option To Fail

Recently, I had the honor of helping to find a local kitty a forever home. A friend of our family, contacted me one evening, telling me that they needed to find a home for their kitty. The wife has been ill for several months, and sadly the doctors are unable to figure out what is causing her to be so sick. The doctor had advised them that they needed to find new homes for their pets.

Max, is a two year old, who was stepped on when he was a kitten. His back/pelvis area was broken. Max, much like our CH kitties, grew up not aware of his disability. When he walked, his legs crossed underneath him. When he ran, he hopped like a bunny. He was able to get into bed and snuggle. He learned how to get out of bed, by sliding down the side.

That evening, I started networking on Facebook. Contacting and posting Maxs’ plea on several friends and cat rescue sites. I thought for sure we were in for a long haul. I had the will to fight for this cat, the option to fail meant a loss of life.

Much to my surprise, the next day we had a glimmer of hope. A lady, Kerin, whom I’ve never meant before, but I’ve helped on several of her rescue transports (Rescue Road Warriors), told me that she had told her friend about Max. Lisa was interested in getting Max.

Now the fun began.

Lisa has a pet rescue called Adopt-A-Pet, in New York. After a few e-mails, I was aware of all the legalities of getting Max out of Pennsylvania and up to Lisa. He needed to be vetted, be combo tested, and be current on vaccines. I called the vet to get an estimate on the vetting. Soon, a chip-in was created and Max went global. Thanks to several strangers, and people I’ve only ever communicated with on Facebook or through e-mail, we were able to raise the funds to get Max vetted.

I wish that I could tell you that things went that smoothly, but we hit several snags in the process.

The area that we’re from isn’t very cultural. Sadly, a lot of people think of animals that have special needs as garbage and see no reason to keep them. They believe it’s better to just put them out of the misery. When we first rescued our first group of CH’ers, we were told the same thing. But I wasn’t going to let them go. I fought for them. Just as you do for your furry family members.

The family, has had some economical difficulties, and taking the cat to the vet wasn’t an option for them. A poor option, in an uneducated pet responsibility world.

On Sunday, I met with the family and Max. Max is just adorable. His picture didn’t do him justice. He was the sweetest kitty. While we waited for the transport, I sat on the tailgate of my car with him with the crate door open. Max never moved. Maybe it was the fresh air, the strange environment or maybe he knew he was going to finally get the medical attention he so desperately deserved.

On Tuesday, Lisa and Max went to the vet. Sadly, nobody was prepared for the results.

The x-rays showed that Max had two breaks, one that was old and a newer one, one from a few months ago. Max was being kept over night for more testing.

I wrote to the family to see if there had been any other injuries they were aware of. There were. Around Christmas, Max fell off the top bunk bed. The kids had been playing with their gifts. Max was great at climbing but coming back down, he wasn’t very graceful.

Then about four months ago, he had gone outside and had been in a fight with another tomcat. Sadly, the family didn’t notice a difference with his mobility.

I don’t want you to think that Max wasn’t loved or abused. He was loved by the girls, they loved playing dress up with him. Max slept in bed with his human Mom. Unfortunately, responsible pet parenting isn’t something well regarded in our community. Trust me, I changed my husbands mind about animals. Some days, his mind goes back to the old way of thinking, until I give him a nudge back to being compassionate.

His family did care enough to search out an alternative rather then handing him over to the SPCA, where he would have been euthanized.

I’m working with Lisa, to get updates on Max and raising funds for his care. We have set up a facebook page for him. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Prayers-for-Max-the-broken-kitty/127871420636884

If you’re a member of the facebook community, I invite you to come and visit.

We also have a chip-in established for him. The funds are directly going to Lisa and Adopt-A-Pet rescue. http://maxtthekittywithabrokenback.chipin.com/max-and-adopt-a-pet-rescue

 I hope to have good news to share soon.

Please share on any other cat rescue or cat groups you belong to. Lisa, Max and I greatly appreciate it.






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