Stello Blog: Cara the cat

Last Tuesday, I was driving to work through Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, and Kilbride (Co. Meath), and just after Kilbride, I saw something on the road.. As I drove closer, I found that the "something" was a little cat, whom someone had injured and just left there to die slowly..

Well, there was no way I could have left the poor baby on the road, so I stopped and picked her up - glad that I had a soft blanket in the car - and put her on the passenger seat. She had blood on her, but didn't seem to have any obvious massive injuries. Still, I was handling her very carefully..

(Soon after, the poor thing fell off the seat, when I had to stop suddenly to avoid killing a hare! Luckily, my bags made it a short and soft fall, but still..)

I was on panic mode as I had about 30 minutes until I was supposed to start working, it was so early in the morning that nothing was open, and I couldn't have just left the little one in the car. So, I went to work, and managed to get the day off.

It was still only about 6am, so no veterinary clinics were open (and I couldn't have afforded to take her to the 24h vets at UCD). I googled on the phone, and found a nearby clinic that would open at 8am, but I decided to take her to Brayvet instead as I know them, and have such good experience with them treating my other cats.

My little friend was very good on the way to Bray (from Ballycoolin), and as soon as Brayvet opened, I took her there. After the first examination, I heard that she had a very badly fractured leg, which would require surgery, and there was a possibility of brain damage, which would be known after the first 24 hours.

It was bad news as I knew I wouldn't have that kind of money, but I didn't want to give up on her as I'd promised her that things would get better.. So, I said I'd cover the first 24h pain medication, and see if I could find some help towards the cost of treatment.

And this is where a real online miracle happened..

My friend, Teemu started a fundraiser page almost instantly after hearing about Cara (whom I'd named by now.. it's an Irish word for "friend", and of course, works in the Italian meaning as well, for a female cat..). And not only that, Teemu also worked for hours, posting the link all over the place, asking for donations.. And by the following morning, we had enough funds to get Cara her surgery and post-op. treatment! (Swedish Delights Malta donated €400!!!)

On Wednesday, after work, I went to see Cara at Brayvet. Andrew the vet showed me the xrays, and it was decided that amputation would be the safest option for Cara, because the fracture would have been very awkward to fix, the leg would never have been "back to normal", she would probably have needed more operations, and maybe even that amputation, if things didn't go right, so instead of putting her through all that, it was a better idea to just amputate the leg (especially as it was a front leg), and let her get on with life. Also, no brain damage, which was great news!

Cara was still drowsy, after the xrays..

On Thursday, I went to Co. Meath again, after work, so didn't visit Cara that day, but she had her amputation surgery, and I phoned a couple of times to ask how she was doing. Everything had went well!

On Friday, I had a day off, so I went to buy some kitty supplies to Co. Meath home. (Thatsit and Pushy are in Bray, so all my cat stuff is there.)

On Friday afternoon, I drove to Bray, and went to see Cara at Brayvet. (Below, a little video..)

Then, I spent the evening with Thatsit and Pushy =)

On Saturday, I collected Cara from Brayvet, and brought her to Co. Meath.

I've sent email to Scoil Bhríde in Kilbride, so they could ask around if anyone in the area is missing a cat, but I have to admit that I'm kind of hoping not to find any owners as I'd love to keep Cara..

As soon as I took her out of the cat carrier, she went to a corner behind the bookshelf, in the living room. She stayed there for hours, and I just stayed in the room, watched telly, facebooked, talked to Cara, and allowed her to stay in her little safe spot..

I have all her basic needs covered in the living room, for now, so that she can see where everything is, and won't have to walk so far for anything while she's still finding her new tripod balance..

Eventually, I managed to lure her out from the corner. First, I brought her some food, and she ate it all. Then, when I was stroking her, I pushed her blanket towards her, and she immediately liked the comfortable softness of it, and little by little, came out and went to sleep on the blanket.

When I went to bed, I left her sleeping on her blanket. Soon after, I heard her using the litter tray for the first time =D And then, about 2-3 hours later, I woke up to her meowing downstairs.. I went to check up on her, and she was feeling lonely as she calmed down when I picked her up and gave her cuddles - awwww..

When I put her back on the floor, she went upstairs on her own =D I followed her, and helped her up to the bed, where she slept on my duvet for the rest of the night =)