# Cat injured, couldn't help it...



## beth1954 (May 19, 2004)

This is probably not the right forum for this, but I have to get this off my chest.
This morning on my way to work, I saw a kitty (about 1/2 grown) laying on the road. I thought it was dead. Just as I was passing by, he moved his tail!! I turned around to see how badly he was hurt. When I got back there, he was sitting up! He had a dog food can stuck on his face. It was pitiful. I thought it was one of those things that you see on TV, ya know? So I was going to try to get it off his face. He just sat there. I kind of snuck up on him and pulled it off real fast. I didn't stop to think how the can was kind of "flattened" on his little face. When I pulled it off, I was shocked beyond belief. I figured out what must have happened, was this poor little baby had his head half in the can. A car must have gone by and ran the can over--with his little face inside. The can was almost flattened, and on his face. When I pulled it off, he was bleeding rather heavily from all over his nose/"mug" area. I didn't know what to do and I was afraid he would tear me up if I tried to pick him up. I had a pillow case in my car and I was going to try to get him in the pillow case and take him to a vet. When I went back with the pillow case, I saw him running and he went underneath a house. He was limping, although it didn't really look as bad as a broken leg. I could not find him. I had to go to work, crying and crying about this little kitty. I could hardly stay at work today. Animal Control was going to go look for him.


----------



## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I would make sure animal control goes back right away to euthanize this kitty. Ive seen so many times where animal control doesnt show up and then a day or two later they will. 

It rips me up just reading about it. Im sorry for the kitty but glad you came across her so you could help end her suffering. Trust me they can linger and it is awful. I hope you can get it taken care of soon.


----------



## beth1954 (May 19, 2004)

My mother called animal control. For a change, she got someone on the phone who seemed to care. I am going out of town tonight, so I can't go check on the kitty. I can only hope that it is hurt enough to die, or well enough to live and be "ok." I will look for it first thing when I get back in town on Saturday morning. I know that's a long time away, but I have no choice. My mother can drive by there, but she is 80 years old and can't really do that much to help.
I'm physically sick about it, and have been crying off and on all day. I don't think I've ever seen anything so horrible in my life--and to not be able to do anything about it.


----------



## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Bless your heart. I so hope someone kind takes care of the poor cat. Sometimes we just can't do what we want to do. Please don't blame yourself.


----------



## ShAzZa_UK (Dec 29, 2009)

If you saw what house the little kitty went under you could inform the homeowner's to keep a look out for her and to contact the humane society if they catch sight of her.

Hopefully you will find her and relieve her pain


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

You did the very best you could with what was available to you at the time. I also think you did the RIGHT thing by not grabbing the injured kitty, as it is possible that it *could* have panicked and lashed out at you, injuring you gravely. You've alerted AC, your Mom was able to reach someone who sounded sympathetic and you really have done all that you can for that kitty. You did a great job. The reason this is upsetting you so much is that you have a great and compassionate heart. You did ALL the right things to help this kitty and keep yourself safe. I would never try to pick up an injured animal without using a blanket or towel of some sort. I'm sorry the kitty didn't wait around for you to be able to use your pillowcase, but you *have* done all that you could. The best you can do now is simply follow-up with AC. Good job.


----------



## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

You did the very best you could, Beth.
Bless your heart! atback


----------



## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Ive been sending prayers for the injured kitty. You did all you could manage to do. Most people would of driven right by. You have a big heart. Dont kick your self for this. You didnt cause it and you tried to help this kitty. Hopefully he is with the angels now. 

Just another reminder of why in the US we keep our kitties inside. There is always that risk. I have an indoor/outdoor kitty living at my sisters. He came from outside. I always hold my breath when he is let outside to patrol his area. Hes been to the vet a couple times from his outdoor excursions and getting injured. But it is who he is. He is inside now 95% of the time. But this is the arrangement that makes him happy. He communicated this to me. But he probably wont live as long as my indoor kitties.


----------



## Donaldjr1969 (Feb 8, 2005)

Beth, I fully understand your pain. 5 years ago I saw a cat with its head in a sewer grate while at a park and it appeared to be looking at something. When I went to see, the cat made no attempt to move. Upon further investigation, the kitty had his head stuck in the grate. I gently went to free him and that is when horror struck. Poor kitty's neck was broken!!!  Hoping that I could possibly save him, I rushed him home. After all, as long as the spinal cord is intact, a cat can survive a broken neck and live a happy life. But sadly...he passed away on the way home. 

I was utterly devastated. Why was I unable to notice the cat earlier? I could have freed him before his neck was injured. But I did take solace in knowing the cat knew it was being cared for during its last 20 minutes of life. I was able to very carefully put him on the passenger seat. The kitty was warm during the end of his life. And his breathing became more stable as if he knew he was being cared for and therefore was no longer fearful. In short, he spent the last 20 minutes of his life being loved rather than being cold and alone. But what really hurt the most was that this was somebody's pet. He was declawed but I hope he was not dumped. I just had no way to find his owners.

Beth, after reading your initial post again, I am going to guess that the cat was NOT ran over with its head in the can. Had the cat's entire head been ran over, the injury would have been fatal. I am thinking that either the cat got its head stuck in a flattened, discarded can and cut itself trying to get free or a vehicle hit the can itself and missed the cat's skull. Unless too much blood was lost, I want to say that this injury was survivable. Maybe this could have had a happy ending. But unless the cat is seen again and thus its health confirmed, it will never be known.


----------



## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

What a sad experience, Don.  But you made that baby feel loved and cared for before it died. Thank you for that.


----------



## MollyMileyMaya (Dec 20, 2009)

I would be really upset, too. Right now I'm trying to help an injured kitty that isn't mine. It's hard to look at them and not do anything to help. I hope this kitty is ok. Poor thing.


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Another story of trying to help a stray kitty-in-need. Sometimes, there just isn't much we *can* do.

Around 15yrs ago my friend came to visit and she and I went horseback riding together. We happened to be riding along the top of a dry 'wash', which is a glorified stream-bed. I saw a cat laying in the middle of the wash, in the shade of a tree and I thought it was odd the cat remained on its' side w/out getting its' feet under it for 'just-in-case' we turned out to be a threat. I warned my friend to keep aware in case it moved and spooked her horse. I was concerned about the strange behavior, wondering if it could be ill and rabies came to mind. When we got back to the barn, I could not get the kitty and its' odd behavior out of my mind so we drove back along the farmer's field roads to the wash so I could check on the cat. I needed to determine if the cat were ill or injured. IMO, it needed *some* kind of assistance, but I didn't know what. When I returned, the kitty was in the same spot but the shade had moved and it was panting in the hot summer sun. It only moved it's ears and eyes when I approached, sliding noisily down the bank. 

I had brought a towel with me and I laid it next to the kitty and gently moved him onto it. He allowed me to turn him so I could check for wounds, but there were none. I looked up, and directly overhead was a tree limb that jutted over the stream-bed and I assumed he'd mis-stepped and fallen out of the tree, landing in the dry wash. I carried him sling-like in the towel, trying to keep the towel stretch out as much as possible to make it be like a stretcher and I carried him up and out of the wash, placing him on the floorboards at my feet and had my friend drive to the vet office. He cooled down in the AC and began purring and looking at me calmly.

At the vet office, their exam showed he had broken his back, probably from falling out of the tree so I paid for his euth and cried for him. My friend left the next morning to visit family members further south and I drove to the few houses within two miles of the wash and left notes w/ my phone number and brief description about the kitty I had found on those homes. No one called to ask about him so I assume he had no home, but I am glad he knew kindness from me and had a dignified end instead of dehydration, heat/sun-stroke and possible predation from foxes, coyotes or birds of prey.

Sometimes, there is very little we CAN do and it breaks our hearts, but YOU DID GOOD. You *_tried_* and that is the Best Thing of All.


----------



## beth1954 (May 19, 2004)

I was worried sick about the kitty all weekend.
I agree that it was probably just the front portion of the kitty's face that got run over. There was so much blood I couldn't really tell how bad it was "broken" or just messed up. I would think about it over the weekend and just cry. I couldn't tell me daughter the details because she would have cried more than me.
I found out later that I had given Animal Control the wrong house number. That made me feel even worse. The numbers on the house were "604." I figured out later that the "1" had fallen off, and it was really "1604." More guilt and worry. 
I went by there again once I got back into town. No sign of the kitty. We knocked on the door, and the lady said they have no cats, and that the lady right across from them fed alot of stray cats. We went over there. There must have been 15 cats laying around. Beautiful cats! We knocked on her door, and she was stone-faced and didn't seem to care a bit. What worries me the most is that it DID NOT kill her, and that she is still alive, suffering.
I did SO want to pick up the kitty, but have been injured badly doing that in the past. When it ran off, my heart broke. 
When I drove by Sunday, I saw the dog food can on the road. It was completely flat. The can had probably had been run over again. It had alot of blood on it.
I just called animal control. They did not locate a kitty, and they figured out my mistake about the house number, so they were at the right location. I feel certain they didn't try very hard.


----------



## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Just know in your heart that you did the best you could with what you had. The important thing is that you cared and took time out of your life to help it out.


----------



## beth1954 (May 19, 2004)

I still cry about it everytime I think about it. I know in my heart that I would not have had any luck actually catching it and getting it to a vet. 
But the "visual" of what the kitty looked like--it's injuries--will make me lose alot of sleep. And the damned bloody can is there every time I drive by. It is on the way to my job.


----------



## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Beth, I know how it feels. I've tried to help a pigeon once, but under the circumstances was unable to. But yes, at least you can take solace in the fact that you actually stopped to help. A lot of people would have just drove by and took the 'Not in my backyard or it's not my problem' approach.


----------

