by Lorraine Monfils
Imagine being very sick and there is no one there to help you. Every day you get weaker and weaker, you have no appetite and you are losing weight.
You do not even have enough energy to walk. All you want to do is sleep. So begins the story of a little cat named Missy. When we first heard about Missy back at the first of March, she was in a home, where they knew she was sick. But they could not afford to take her to the vet.
One of our volunteers was able to persuade the family to surrender her to The Ark so we could get her the medical attention that she needed. They loved her enough to let her go. Time was of the essence – Missy needed help and fast. We were not even sure she was going to survive long enough for us to get her to the vet.
Once she arrived at the clinic, the wheels were set in motion to try and save her life. The staff at the clinic was amazing. Missy’s white and red blood cell counts were wiped out, her immune system was shot, her liver function was shutting down. She had so many fleas that she had become anemic, she was dehydrated and severely underweight.
After her initial examination it was doubtful that Missy was even strong enough to survive. It was clear from this point on Missy was in a fight for her life. A regimen of fluids and antibiotics was started. Missy was not eating on her own, so she was force-fed.
Days went by and Missy seemed to be holding her own, but she was still not eating. To make things worse her skin was so compromised that it began to tear. At that point the vet knew that they could only handle Missy as little as possible so as not to jeopardize her skin tearing anymore. The vet had to glue Missy’s skin back together and from that point on Missy wore a T-shirt. She had soft paws on her nails and she wore a cone. This would help ensure that Missy would not scratch herself and tear her skin even more.
Days turned into weeks and finally Missy started to eat on her own. Blood work was run every week and little by little Missy’s blood work was improving. Missy’s skin was healing every day and she continued to improve.
Two months later Missy is still at the clinic, but the good news is that shortly she will receive a clean bill of health. She is getting back to being a normal feisty little cat. The vet tech who has taken such good care of Missy these past few months says they have a love-hate relationship. Missy is tired of being poked and prodded and after two months I can’t say that I blame her. The next step is to bring Missy back to The Ark and help her find her fur-ever home – or so we thought.
Early this week I received a phone call from the vet tech that took such good care of Missy. The one who sat up many long nights with Missy, the one who medicated her and hydrated her and did all things that Missy protested so much. She is the one who was her mom so to speak through all of this and who treated Missy like she was one of her own. In a very quiet voice I was asked if it would be OK if she adopted Missy. I began to laugh and my eyes filled with happy tears, my reply “of course you can!”
Missy’s new home will be the purr-fect place for her. She will never want for anything and medical attention will always be there when she needs it.
Missy’s journey was a long and difficult one and she fought valiantly and survived. We are all proud that we were a part of Missy’s journey and that we were able to help her, after all that is what we do and why we are here. We believe that every animal’s life is meaningful and that they all deserve loving homes.
If you take nothing else away from the story, we hope that you realize that owning an animal is a big responsibility and that loving them is sometimes just not enough. You have to be able to afford to take care of them properly and provide medical attention when they need it. They say a cat has nine lives. If that is so I am sure that Missy has used a few of her nine in the past two months. From here on out we wish only good things for you, Missy. You are an amazing cat with an amazing story.
Please join us outside the Hollywood Pet Salon on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a bake sale. We will also be at Pleasant View Tree farm that same day with a second bake sale. Join us at The Elks Club on Saturday, May 24, from 4-7 p.m. for our Italian dinner “Out of The Ashes, Into The Light,” dine in or take out. There will be a dessert auction and a silent auction all proceeds will go towards our rebuilding fund.
Thank you for your continued support and as always thank you for reading our column.
