We came across this guy when we were trying to trap Rufus. He's a friendly Community Cat, being fed by a lady in the neighborhood where Rufus hung out for a week. We asked her if she would feed the outdoor cats at night, and not in the morning and night, until we had Rufus. That way, Rufus would not eat all of the cat food, and not be interested in the food in our trap. Well, he decided to go to another house for his breakfast (2 doors down). The owner of that house had never seen him before, and noticed that he was limping. So, she called Animal Control, hoping that they would trap him and get him help for his leg. Animal Control showed up, and when the woman went to point out his leg, the cat gave her a love bite. Anyone who knows cats knows that they love bite -- not hard, just put their teeth on you as a way of saying "please don't do that". Unfortunately, the woman is on blood thinners after recently having a heart attack, so it broke the skin. Animal control had to write it up as a bite. But, the cat took off and they were not able to catch him. When she posted on FB, asking if anyone knew the cat, Laura Green recognized him right away! She called me, and I went over and set out a trap. I had him within a couple of hours. I contacted Animal Control, and they are letting Laura hold him for the 10-day quarantine. After that time, we will take him to get neutered, vaccinated, and that leg checked. His caretaker says that he has limped ever since she first saw him, although it's better than it was. But, we will get to the bottom of it and make sure he gets the care he deserves!
Several people on FB suggested that she take the cat to get it tested for Rabies. They obviously don't know what all that entails. The cat has to be killed. I won't go in to the details of the test other than to say that they have to test the brain. And the human can't get a simple shot if they think they are exposed to Rabies. It's a series of shots that can be quite painful. Although TNR (Trap-Neuter- Release) is not the purpose of R2H, in situations like this, we will do it in order to spare the life of the innocent animal.
Comments