Just felt like sharing this story.
My wife has been feeding these stray cats in our backyard for a while now. Of the 4 who frequent our home, one always had my eye for she had only 3 legs! Her mother brought her to us one day and she's been enjoying our generousity ever since. Although she seems to have adjusted well, having just three legs has had an effect on her personality...she's VERY distrustful and shy. When it's time for a feeding, we just lay out the food and walk away otherwise she'll never eat and the other cats would have eaten all the food.
Anyway, having only three legs means something else too...you can't always scratch where it itches. Sadly the cat caught some kind of bacteria or infection (found out later that it was "scabbies") and scar tissue had grown over half her face. My wife and I were obviously worried but unable to help her because she would run at top speed away at the first sign of us. My wife resolved herself to get on the cat's good side all in an attempt to somehow help her.
Slowly the cat started to feed with my wife nearby...a good sign. My wife also thought she could help the cat be giving her flea medicine across its back. You see, at the time we both thought that the infection and the itching was from fleas. She couldn't have been more wrong. My wife doesn't speak nor read english fluently and gave the cat a dose of flea medice FOR DOGS. The warning on the packaging is very clear but she didn't notice them. The cat immediatly started having seizures. I got home an hour later. Catching her now was pretty easy...she really couldn't run fast or co-ordinated.
The vet told me that night that "Tripod" only had a 50/50 chance of living and that she was still having seizures - a full 8 hours after being poisoned. There was a chance that she'd have permanent brain damage. I really couldn't sleep that night...I can't stand to see animals suffer.
The next day she was no longer having the seizures but she wasn't out of harm's way yet. It wasn't until the third day that I was able to take her home. In my house I set up for her a rather large cage for her to heal. I had to force feed her for the first two days. But something happend on the third day...she ate by herself. She drank by herself. She even meowed!
So, to make a long story short (too late), she's on my lap while I write this post. Now, she no longer worries about how to scratch those itches...she has me.
BTW, scratching her is hilarious! her little nub flies as though she's doing the scratching! Too funny!
My wife has been feeding these stray cats in our backyard for a while now. Of the 4 who frequent our home, one always had my eye for she had only 3 legs! Her mother brought her to us one day and she's been enjoying our generousity ever since. Although she seems to have adjusted well, having just three legs has had an effect on her personality...she's VERY distrustful and shy. When it's time for a feeding, we just lay out the food and walk away otherwise she'll never eat and the other cats would have eaten all the food.
Anyway, having only three legs means something else too...you can't always scratch where it itches. Sadly the cat caught some kind of bacteria or infection (found out later that it was "scabbies") and scar tissue had grown over half her face. My wife and I were obviously worried but unable to help her because she would run at top speed away at the first sign of us. My wife resolved herself to get on the cat's good side all in an attempt to somehow help her.
Slowly the cat started to feed with my wife nearby...a good sign. My wife also thought she could help the cat be giving her flea medicine across its back. You see, at the time we both thought that the infection and the itching was from fleas. She couldn't have been more wrong. My wife doesn't speak nor read english fluently and gave the cat a dose of flea medice FOR DOGS. The warning on the packaging is very clear but she didn't notice them. The cat immediatly started having seizures. I got home an hour later. Catching her now was pretty easy...she really couldn't run fast or co-ordinated.
The vet told me that night that "Tripod" only had a 50/50 chance of living and that she was still having seizures - a full 8 hours after being poisoned. There was a chance that she'd have permanent brain damage. I really couldn't sleep that night...I can't stand to see animals suffer.
The next day she was no longer having the seizures but she wasn't out of harm's way yet. It wasn't until the third day that I was able to take her home. In my house I set up for her a rather large cage for her to heal. I had to force feed her for the first two days. But something happend on the third day...she ate by herself. She drank by herself. She even meowed!
So, to make a long story short (too late), she's on my lap while I write this post. Now, she no longer worries about how to scratch those itches...she has me.
BTW, scratching her is hilarious! her little nub flies as though she's doing the scratching! Too funny!
