Thursday, April 30, 2009

Do You Recognize this Lovely Cat?



Press Release from SPCANS
April 30, 2009 Halifax, NS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPCA Seeking Public's Help with Badly Injured Cat
The SPCA is looking for assistance in finding the owner of a cat that fell from at least the third floor of an apartment building at 6969 Bayer's Road in Halifax on the evening of Friday, April 24th.
HRM Animal Services received a call at approximately 10:30pm from the Superintendent of the building who received a call from a tenant on the second floor who witnessed the cat falling from above, she hit the concrete and lay there in distress until she eventually dragged herself under a nearby car.
After being rushed to the Metro Animal Emergency Clinic, she was diagnosed with a broken leg and bruised bladder and is currently under observation at Eastern Passage Veterinary Hospital where she is in stable condition. At the time of this release, no one has come forward looking for their missing cat (see attached pictures). Anyone with any information is asked to contact investigator Nancy Noel at 835-4798 at the NS SPCA Provincial office.
Staff at the Metro Shelter have named the cat Hope. Due to the cast on her leg she has limited mobility, and despite her injuries she has maintained a wonderful spirit. Staff are hopeful that the cast will be a success, but previous attempts to heal the broken legs of cats have not always been successful and amputation is still an option that may have to be considered. Due to the expense of such an operation, the Metro Shelter is looking to the public to help out in any way they can.
At this time of year, the Metro Shelter is also in desperate need of foster homes for cats like Hope and all of the mothers and kittens that have been flooding into the shelter in the last few weeks. If you are interested in making a donation to assist Hope, or in opening your home to becoming a foster, please contact the Metro Shelter at 468-7877 or email
foster@metro.spcans.ca. There is no cost to the public to foster; the shelter provides the food, litter, medicine and all other essentials to foster homes.
Media requests and interviews may be directed to
media@spcans.ca or by calling 835-4798.
Outside of the special effects of cat treat commercials, cats have better sense than to jump out of windows. They are brilliant creatures, but they can come to harms way all too often from humans.
Thirty two years ago, when my daughter was a baby, we were adopted by my best friend's cat. She was babysitting for me and Mr Fritz just fell completely and utterly in love with my daughter. He was already a mature adult at the time, but he lived to the ripe old age of almost 22 .... tagging along with us as we moved from Alberta to New Brunswick to Ontario and then here to Nova Scotia.
While we were in New Brunswick, Mr Fritz was hit by a car and sadly after a couple of surgeries we were unable to save his rear right leg.
Did that mean the end of the line? Of course not ..... cats don't have the same hangups that people do about disabilities. The only time we were reminded about it was with what we all came to refer to as the "turkey trot" .... whenever I was cooking a holiday turkey, Mr Fritz would limp into the kitchen and fling himself down on the floor in front of the oven, always with the 'stump' side up.
We had the pleasure of Mr Fritz's company for nearly ten years after the accident as we kept moving around the countryside. He was still feisty enough that in spite of being neutered, his ear needed stitching while we lived in Ontario. By the time we moved to Nova Scotia, he had settled into his more sedate senior years. The point being of course that "till death do us part" should be part of every pet owners promise. But I am wandering afield here.
Hope is a great name for this lovely cat .... as we all hope she heals and gets to keep all her 'feet' on the ground. I know i sound like a stuck record on the pet blog when I say this, but Hope really would have more love than anyone could possibly imagine for the person who is kind enough to open their home and their heart to her.
We could learn a lesson or two from the generosity of spirit that allows animals that have been hurt to trust and love again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am 14 years old and I own five cats. in school we are doing a newspaper and I'm basing my paper on animals. I live in Eastern Passage and our vet is caring for hope. this story is something i defiantly will put in my paper!