Dear Neighbour, On 10th January 2013, a small black and white cat stopped my car on our street. I thought she was a kitten as she was so tiny but when I touched her, I shuddered. I knew I couldn’t leave her there so I scooped her up and off we drove. I could feel every bone in her body. She was all skin and bone. The skin from her feet even hung down. She was covered in sores and scabs. Old and new. Her nails had grown a full circle and were embedding themselves into the pads of her paws. Her fur was completed matted with the most painful clumps pulling on every bit of her fragile skin. Her ears were full to the top with dirt and muck. She barely had the energy to hold her head up. She had some food and drink that day before drifting off to sleep for a few hours. Later that same day, I gave her a bath. The bath water turned red almost instantly. I changed the water and again it turned red instantly. After that, we headed to the local vet. Even the staff there were shocked at her condition. She was placed on a drip and given fluids, antibiotics and pain killers. She had blood tests and ultrasounds. She was extremely malnourished but as none of the tests came back with any really bad results we decided that she should have a nice home, to live out the rest of her time, without ever being neglected again. As she was a stray, there was no-one to pay her vet bills so I put out a call for help and it was answered by some very caring animal lovers. We managed to raise enough money, from complete strangers, to pay for her vet bills and ongoing care. She was at the vets for 9 days. Nobody looked for her. No lost notices placed in the paper, no lost signs in our street. No response to my found ad. She had no collar or microchip but now, she had a new owner. She was estimated to be 20 years old. We shaved her and clipped her nails. Removed the grime from her ears and got rid of those fleas. We watched as her pained expression slowly disappeared and her waist slowly grew. In August, 2013 she underwent surgery to remove some of the teeth that were hurting her. She was of no trouble. She was litter trained and was happy to spend most of her days sleeping. She was deaf but her eyesight and nose were great. She lived with us for 20 months in the warmth, with love and without ever being hungry or vulnerable again. Last week, we took her to the vets for her final sleep. Her years finally caught up with her and she let us know that it was time. Please, if you ever see an animal suffering like ‘Vanessa’ was, do something. Anything. Contact a rescue group, the RSPCA or a vet. I don’t know what happened to Vanessa’s owner. Whether they moved away and just discarded her or maybe they passed away and no-one cared that she was now on her own. I truly hope that her owner does not still live on our street and, if her owner is still alive, that they never ever own a pet again. “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 06:08:06 +0000
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