Hoarding is bad on pretty much any level, but when it comes to hoarding animals I honestly don't think there is anything worse.
This little girl was brought into the Meow Mobile last week by a hoarder. She was there for her spay (4 months old and already pregnant). She had a respiratory infection that by the time she made it off the surgery table had caused her to slip into a coma. The amazing Dr. Kramer was able to revive her after performing CPR, but she had severe neurological damage as a result. She was taken to another Cat Network member's home for rehabilitation, but after a week of care it had been decided that she should be euthanized. At least that was the case until she was brought back to the Meow Mobile where the biggest animal crusader and number one vet tech, Eliana, decided that she deserved more of a chance before everyone gave up on her. In the one week she had been recovering she had already made huge strides - eating on her own, fighting off her URI, and starting to hold her head up.
Since I'm probably one of the few people who leaves the clinic with more cats than I took in, Eliana decided I should take this little girl home with me and see what I can do to get her where she needs to be (she and I are very good friends and share a passion for helping the worst off animals in the clinic, so it's okay that she pushed this kitten on me...!). And how can you argue with something like "she's either given a chance or she dies"??!!! I know I couldn't!! After all this kitten has been through in her short life there was no way I was going to let her die without first fighting for her and letting her fight for herself.
Since coming home with me last night she's eaten a healthy amount, has taken her meds without a fight, and has started purring and snuggling up with anyone close by!! You can absolutely see the kitten in her, she's just trying to find a way to let it out and conquer the neurological damage (which is possible for cats to do, if given enough time and attention). She's been trying to walk, although it's not very steady, and she's started meowing for attention when she needs some pets. Seems like good signs to me, and a reason to let her keep fighting!!! The hardest part though is that it's not just the neurological damage she's trying to overcome - she's very underweight and is battling a very serious respiratory infection that makes it hard for her to breath. She also has worms and is unable to use a litter box, so there's a lot of cleaning up after her. It's worth it though, and I'm happy to show her not all humans are bad.
But this brings me back to the hoarders. The woman who was keeping this baby also has another 40+ cats in her small one bedroom apartment. With that number it's impossible to care for them properly despite the best of intentions, and it shows. Most of them have respiratory infections and they're breeding faster than she can control leading to other medical issues. It's just not fair to the animals to live like this, and there's no amount of arguing that could make me think otherwise. This woman is being reported to Animal Services for animal cruelty, which is a move I 100% agree with. And I urge anyone who sees a situation like this to do the same. It's not only unhealthy and cruel to the animals, but it's very unhealthy for the human living in that situation.
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| Neurological cat gets some rest. |
On a random side note, I think of this cat in my head as an internet meme. Maybe it's because of the recent South Park episode, but I keep repeating "neurological cat says ____" and picturing the background from the business cat meme. I've also been calling her Neuri (for the time being at least).
I'll post more pictures and updates on Neuri over the weekend, as she *hopefully* progresses!!
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