Yesterday morning my boss saw this little lady wandering down the street from our office...the intersection happens to be that of the block I work on and a highway! When he came in, he said there was a "little cat in the middle of the road" down the block, which, unfortunately, comes as no surprise as there is a feral cat colony/problem in the neighborhood. Immediately, I got up from my desk asking "was it hit by a car?", "does it appear injured?", "are you sure it wasn't injured and that's what it's staying in the traffic?".
Running down the street I spot this tiny little ball of fur on the ledge of a window, she was literally hanging by her claws on chicken wire, the wire was covering the glass of the corner building's basement window...thank heavens she made it to that side of the building and was able to get on that ledge until I got there. As you can see in the photo, her right eye appears totally obliterated and her left eye isn't in the greatest shape...she also had a terrible upper respiratory infection. Normally I keep a Rubbermaid container in my car filled with supplies for capturing/aiding loose dogs and such but, murphy's law, of course, I didn't have it with me. With a jacket from the trunk of my car I carefully swaddled this little peanut and gently picked her up...it was a little bit of a struggle to get her "un-clawed" from the chicken wire but eventually she let go. As I walked back to the office she gave out...I thought I lost her....she must have been so exhausted from the trauma of the traffic and the struggle to find her way to safety...to my relief she was breathing. Poor little baby hadn't known a kind soul until that moment....all I could do was to keep soothing her and tell her to hang on, she would be OK if she could just hang in there a bit longer.
Once back at the office I set her up in the warehouse by placing my jackect in some milk crates as a makeshift pet crate and gave her some water which she drank right away. This was the best that could be done until Animal Control could get there....while in her "crate" she began meowing and then got some much needed rest.
At this point I was feeling like she needed to come home with me, she needed me to nurse her back to health and give her a home with us. The giving her a home thing is big news because I am *not*, I repeat, am not a cat person, not at all. All these thoughts were running thru my head about how could I make this work out...things like:
Then the reality of animal rescue came back to me...Clawdia is not meant to live with us & that is the best decision for her. So, I sat with her and talked to her telling her she would be OK and that someone out there will love her and provide the safety & medical care she needs.
Just before I handed her over I told her to keep fighting and clawing (just not with other cats or people! LOL)...it was her ability to claw her way to safety that spared her little life.
"Keep Going. You always keep going." little Clawdia.
Godspeed my friend.
This post should serve as a reminder to donate to your local animal shelter/rescue. Whether it be a few dollars, some bottles of bleach, old blankets and towels, a few bags of dog/cat food, treats, toys, leashes or, most importantly, a few hours of your time, it is desperately needed to help these poor animals that are cast aside as if they are trash. They are not trash; they are living creatures placed here on this Earth for a reason and should be treated with the kindness, respect and love they so deserve & are entitled to. Won't you please take this moment to do what you can to help those in need...believe me when I tell you *every little bit* helps.
In the great words of Mahatma Gandhi...
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
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