Cheerio

On January 8th, we received a message about a cat in someone's backyard, who had appeared to be limping on one of his hind legs. We reached out to one of our rescue partners, Desert Whiskers Rescue, and they immediately took action. They went to the house, grabbed the cat, and took him to the ER vet. After $764, we found out his back left leg is shattered, and he has a urinary blockage. The vet placed a urinary catheter and sent him on his way. To receive the rest of his care, Cheerio was brought to our facility. 

After a few days of extensive observation, Cheerio's catheter was removed and he is finally urinating on his own! However his leg still needs some attention. We're going to try our best to save it, but, we might not be able to, and he might have to undergo an amputation. 

Cheerio is ear tipped, meaning he went through the TNR system and was released back outside. He isn't feral, just very, very scared. We aren't sure what caused his medical problems, but we won't ever let something like that happen to him ever again. Sweet boy, Cheerio, will find a furever home following whatever medical care is necessary to get him back on his feet, even if it's only three of them. 

During Cheerio’s time awaiting the amputation, being managed with pain medication, cage rest, and love, we did notice he was having some troubles with urinating and defecating. We didn’t exactly know if it was from being stressed or something medical, but we knew he wasn’t happy in a cage, so he went to foster. In foster, he emotionally improved. He found comfort in the other house cats and was visibly happier. However, he was still having the bathroom issues. Then one night, the foster hadn’t seen any pee for a few days, so she brought him to us. We took him to the vet to find he did not have a blockage like we expected. The doctor looked over his x-rays, and after being told he seemed to be incontinent, he realized what had really happened: Cheerio had a tail pull injury and his back had been broken.

Whatever horrible things Cheerio had gone through for his leg to be broken, it broke his back, too, causing him to be completely paralyzed in his bottom half.

We had to make the heartbreaking decision to humanely euthanize Cheerio. A cat with a tail-pull injury that causes nerve damage wouldn’t live a pleasant life. Bladder and colon paralysis can mean daily bladder expression and recurring UTI’s, which can be painful and difficult to go through, especially in a cat that’s afraid of people.

One thing we know is he wasn’t suffering during his stay. We kept him as hygienic as we could, because, again, he wasn’t a huge fan of anybody except other cats. He lived his last couple of months warm, fed, and loved. We don’t know what he went though, but we can’t imagine it was humane. Whatever it was, he didn’t deserve it. There was a kind soul under the hissing and spitting.

There’s never an easy way to get through this other than knowing we provided a safe space for him, and he didn’t die alone in pain on the street.