We had a sad day

[kathryn d]

Sunday night driving home we found a black kitten on the road.We stopped and took it home.
Then we found out it could hardly walk.We figure it had been hit by a car.
We put him on a blanket and made him as comfortable as possible.
We took his picture and made up flyers.We went to the houses around the area where we found him, but nobody recognized him.
This morning he was still in a lot of pain, so we took him to the vet. They took an x ray and the leg wasn't broken. However the vet was concerned about the pelvis and wanted permission to sedate him, so they could get a better xray and he wouldn't feel it.

We agreed. His pelvis was severly broken. The worst she had personally ever seen. They couldn't repair the damage and would need to be referred to a more specialized facility. The cost would be $2000+ without any guarantees.
Another option would be let it heal on its own, but he would always be in constant pain. The third option was to have him put to sleep.

We had only had him with us one day.We named him Jett, as he was jet black.

We brought his little collar home and he will always be remembered.We could have walked out and not paid the vets bill, but when we took him to the vet, we considered him ours.The $174 bill was worth knowing this little guy wasn't just waiting for the next car to finish him off.
Yes, we would do it again.

 

[Francesca C]

Poor little babe.... yes, that is so sad.

Just rememer, you put light in his life at a time when he needed some love. Imagine how sad it would be if you hadn't found him, he would have wondered off into the bush on his own and in pain to die.

You gave him peace.

 

[steveadl]

That's a terrible story Kathryn!

Good on you for helping the poor guy out! Nothing worse to me than seeing animals suffer.

We keep both our cats inside for just these sorts of reasons - cars, other cats, dogs, people. It's not always a nice world out there, especially for little animals.

 

[ice]

You are a kind & caring soul. I would have done the same. I am sure he knew that he was with loving people, which made his last days much brighter.

 

[sparky23]

Two years ago we lost our 'Megsy', she had been with us for 16 years and was the same age as my eldest, lots of pics of them when they were both babies together. We were devastated when after not coming home for a couple of days she came back and wasn't quite right. She was drooling and to me it looked as though she had a dislocated jaw, I took her to the vets thinking she might need her jaw wiring or something similar but when the vet x-rayed her jaw her lower jaw was in too many bits for him to put her back together, she could have gone to a specialist in Sydney but apart from the trauma of the operation, even if she survived it, apparently recovery would have been horrendous and taken months and I didn't even stop to consider the cost but it would have been massive. In the end we couldn't have put her through it at that great age so we had to have her put to sleep.

So unfair she deserved a peaceful death in her sleep, we found blood on the neighbours driveway so I think she may have been asleep on it and he drove over her.

The hole it left in my heart was so massive and painful that I hunted high and low for a new kitty not to replace her but to try and fill the hole a little bit. I can't believe how much it hurt!

 

[mr-ed]

I have a kelpie that broke his leg 4 months ago. Jumped over the sheep crate on the back or the ute, at about 80 kph. Smashed the femur in 3 pieces plus a small shard, aswell as a piece missing (exit through the skin)

Plan was 16 weeks recovery; pin through the middle of femur. 18 weeks later the pin si still there, healing has been slow. cost so far is about $1300.

Caring for an injured pet is not simple. You can't explain to a dog about the injuries and the recovery etc.

Charlie is only 2yo so there is plenty time for recovery, if the bone sets OK. Vet wasnt game to take the pin out at xmas time, he thought that the bone may collaps.

He is raring to chase sheep again, and it will be great to have him on the back ot the 4 wheel motor bike.

Fingers crossed!!!!!

 

[Xenia]

There is nothing better in life than doing the right thing by people and animals. We have picked up lots of injured animals and paid for vet bills and we feel that we are better people because of it. Doing the right thing always has a way of manifesting itself in a positive way in your life.

Poor little cat, I'm so glad that there are people that care enough to respect lives of all types. Thank you Kathryn!

 

[artemis]

i'm so relieved that there are still good decent people out there like you kathryn.

i also have my fingers crossed for charlie's swift recovery.

 

[ianvestor]

I'm just wondering, if it's so 'humane' to put cane toads in the freezer, why isn't the same true for cats?

I'm not suggesting you try this, just curious about the science behind it, and also wondering what they use to put cats to sleep.

 

[skater]

We have 5 cats. We didn't plan on having any of them, but they have all come to us by default. One by the side of the road when he was 2 weeks old, 2 more from an abusive home, & 2 more, again 2 weeks old that were dumped & covered in faeces.

They are the light of our lives & spoilt rotten. Because there are many strays that want to fight & many hoons near where we live, they were kept indoors for a long time for their safey.

Hubby decided to give them a yard of their own. He has enclosed half the back yard with bird netting that runs from the fence to the roof (so they can't catch any birds) & a cat proof fence so they can come & go into their own garden through a cat door. Next he has planted a garden with a heap of native shrubs, which they play in. They love it! And there is nothing they like more than for you go out into their garden with them.

Like you, Kathryn, we have picked up many animals in trouble. Once on the way home, we found an injured bat. We bundled it up & I started ringing vets to take him in. None would touch it, so we had to ring WIRES. The drive took us more than 1/2 an hour out of our way, buy we were able to find someone to nurse him back to heath.

Another time Hubby found an injured bird, just outside of our house. We couldn't bring it inside because of the cats, so gave it to a neighbour to look after (she was animal crazy too). It made a full recovery & was released.

Yet another time, Hubby found a cat that had been hit by a car. He came home late & there was blood etc on a good jacket of his. He explained that he had found the animal & had taken it to a vet, but the poor mite died in the car on the way.

 

[kathryn d]

I'm just wondering, if it's so 'humane' to put cane toads in the freezer, why isn't the same true for cats?

I'm not suggesting you try this, just curious about the science behind it, and also wondering what they use to put cats to sleep.

Thank you everyone for your kind words.
Rob and I certainly didn't need another catas we already have 3 and a dog.We also couldn't not take him home.

Thank you for sharing your stories as well.

They give an overdose (injection ) of sedation.It works very quickly.The vet kept him sedated while she talked with us hoping that we would choose to euthanize and he wouldn't need to feel another poke of a needle.

 

[Pushka]

That was a very sweet thing to do; the kitten passed away free from pain thanks to your kind actions.

 

[lizzie]

i was lovely of you - and it is of great solice to think that the cat knew that, at it's darkest hour, someone cared enough to love them - albeit briefly.

any of us that care would have a similar story - cuddling a 10wk old kitten while it died after being attacked by the neighbours dog (sob) - but that takes nothing away from what you did.

you are a lovely soul ...

 

[kathryn d]

Update

The kitten's previous owners came to our home today. Apparently the kitten had crawled on or under their vehicle without their knowledge.The little guy travelled about a mile before falling/ jumping off.
They were on their way to somewhere...and returned today. They made up flyers and started searching. Some people we spoke to told them about us looking for owners.
Eventually they saw our flyer.

We told them the story. Turned out they were people I provided child care about 15 years ago.
They gave us a cheque for the vet bill and said they really appreciated all we did for their"Sparky"

We gave them the collar.

To us he will always be Jett.

 

[lizzie]

oooooh - boohooooooo (sniff). a lovely ending, if still incrediably sad.

 

[want2bewealthy]

Congrats on stopping to take this cat into your care, the world needs more people like you, its easy to just keep driving but it takes a strong person to stop and take hold of the situation,
good on you!

 

[Lily House]

Thanks for wrecking my make-up (tears).

How lovely of you Kathryn, to take the little kitten to the vet. And so glad the owners found you (and gave you a cheque for the vet bill) and found out what happened. My sister is still distressed to this day, about a beloved cat that went missing years ago. It is the not knowing what happened that hurts. Jett/Sparky's owners can be comforted by knowing that his last hours were spent with someone as kind as you.

Lily

 

[our obsession]

Acts of kindness and compassion...and sometimes they still have sad outcomes; brought tears to my eyes too, reading this Kathryn. The little guy is not going to suffer anymore; and he had a couple of caring, human guardian angels to see him through his last hours.

Thanks from down under for just being so thoughtful.

We do some adoption(s), brings a lot of joy to us; (and I think the adoptees).

 

[kathryn d]

Thank you.

It was my idea to bring the little guy home. I certainly didn't have to convince Rob. He jumped out of the car and carefully scooped him up.When we got home Rob allowed the kitty to bite him while he carefully checked his leg.

As the vet gave us the devastating news, I wasn't the only one with tears rolling down my cheeks.Rob might be 6'1", but he is a real softy when it comes to animals.

It sounds like many here on Somersoft are as well.

 

[gooram]

Yes I had two lovely 18month old burmese cats up until about a month ago. Brother and sister they were.

The little girl ran under the car while I was backing out of the driveway and her head went straight under the wheel. She died instantly.

Two days later as I was telling someone the story over the phone, I got a knock on the door, it was my neighbour, and Jenkins the boy had been run over out the front. Hit and run, the fookers didn't even stop. It was a big 4WD, poor little guy didn't stand a chance.

So, so sad. Truely they were the best cats I've ever met. Such personality and affection. I can highly recommend the breed, but I won't be getting any more in a hurry.

We always debated whether we should let them outside, I decided it was cruel to keep them cooped up because they were real climbers, LOVED the trees and birds, never killed any, just loved the chase. We started only letting them out while we were outside so we could keep an eye on them, and they always exhibited caution around the road and cars.

We didn't have the room for a cat run like skater, but that sounds perfect.