Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace
By Lorraine Monfils
    This past summer we worked to help clean up a cat colony in Island Falls. We caught all but one of the cats, which happened to be a female. We altered all of the cats and placed them all as well as all of the kittens. It was a long process and difficult but so worth it in the end. We kept trying to get the last female, but were unsuccessful; then in October we noticed she was injured and limping around on three legs.
    A few weeks ago the phone rang and she was captured. She had walked into a cat carrier with food and started to eat. This was almost too easy for such a feisty cat that had managed to allude us for months. Then came the next problem – we had no room for her. We were out of foster homes and the fact that she was semi-feral didn’t help. After making numerous phone calls we came up with a solution. I called the vet and told them we had an injured cat coming in and that she also needed to be spayed, they agreed to see her the next day. Karen, a volunteer for us agreed to take her as it was my day off and I was going away.
     Once at the vet, they asked permission to sedate her so they could take x-rays and we agreed. About an hour later the phone rang and nothing could prepare us for what we were about to hear. This little cat weighing no more than 6 or 7 pounds had been shot twice had 4 fractures in her pelvic area and a leg that was broke in 2 places. She had been out there approx. 3 weeks with these injuries, and there was no one to help her. She was semi-feral and afraid of humans and I can’t say I blame her after being shot twice. No wonder she walked into the carrier with food – she was tired, in pain and hungry. Maybe she could sense that we wanted to help her and she finally decided to trust us.
    After speaking with our vet, it was decided that the cat would have surgery on Monday, as this was already Friday. The cat was heavily sedated and resting comfortably. On Monday, she would have the bullets removed, be spayed and her hind left leg was so badly damaged it would have to be amputated. The pelvic fractures would heal on their own. As near as we could tell she was shot twice and must have ran out into the road to get away and was hit by a car which caused the other injuries.
    We wanted to give this little girl a name that suited her and it was decided that she would be called “Amazing Grace” – after all it was truly amazing that she survived all of these injuries and was finally rescued.  Amazing Grace’s surgery was going to be quite costly so we put out a plea to the public and two days later we had raised enough money to pay for the surgery.
    That Monday we all waited anxiously to hear how the surgery went. The phone call came, she did wonderfully, everything went as planned and she would be coming back to us on Wednesday. Her recovery time would be about a month, but she would not be able to be released back. She would have to be an indoor cat.
    Every day Grace becomes a little more trusting. I can scratch her ears and head and even her belly. She never offers to bite or growl or even move away. She is recovering quite well from her surgery and moves around just fine on 3 legs and she has a big appetite. Grace is waiting for just the perfect home where she will never again have any worries.
    My first reaction after hearing about Amazing Grace’s injuries was anger towards the person that shot her. What were they thinking? Clearly they weren’t thinking, as time has gone by my anger has turned towards sympathy for this person to think their heart is so cold and empty that they could do something like this. You may have shot this little cat, but she did not give in. She is a survivor. Thank you to everyone who helped with Grace’s surgery we are forever grateful.
    For the month of November the Ark took in $2,274 in donations and fundraising our expenses were $2,723. We took in four cats and adopted three cats out. We lost one kitten too tiny to survive. We currently have 66 cats. We took in nine dogs, and adopted three. We currently have nine dogs. Please join us at the Horn of Plenty on Dec. 7 for a fundraiser. We would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season and thank you for your continued support.