You may recall from my previous posts the saga of the outdoor cats. Since the high turnover in the building back in June, the kitties moved to quieter pasture. Can't say that I blame them. Aside from one brief spotting of The Sheriff's sister (aka B&W 2) the other week, it's as if they simply vanished. (See here for background/pic). Until this past motzei Shabbos.
I was making my way home after hearing havdalah at my friend S's, when I happened upon The Sheriff. What actually caught my attention was the fact that he was dragging the back half of his body when he walked. Apparently he had been clipped by a car, and despite pulling himself along very quickly by his front paws while standing erect, he was obviously in pain and in bad shape.
I just didn't know what to do for a full minute. So I spoke to him in my "talking to animals/babies" voice, which he didn't seem to mind. That's what made me really decide he was in a bad way; normally he's more skittish than that. Yet I couldn't figure out how to help him. If I called the city, they'd euthanize him 1-2-3, and maybe there was a way to save him. He just needed his back legs taken care of.
I decided I should go back to S, since she knows a lot of "cat" people, including one of her neighbours who takes care of the neighbourhood cats when they pass by for a visit, aka food. I went and fetched her, and in that short period of time (less than 3 minutes), The Sheriff had dragged himself across the street to the next block and was sitting by the feet of a guy talking on the cell phone. S took a look at The Sheriff and said she would go fetch the Cat Lady, since CL would probably recognize him. In the meantime I decided to chat up Cell Phone Guy, because I had a feeling he was calling Animal Control. Sure enough, he had called his girlfriend who had called the city. I told him we knew the cat, and could he please cancel the call? So he did, much to my relief.
S came back with CL's daughter, who immediately recognized The Sheriff. After quite a few tense moments of hissing and so forth, CLD managed to get him by the back of the neck and off she and S went to put him in a "cage" to hold him for the time being. On my way back home, I happened to see Sheriff's sister crossing the road, going towards the way I had come from, and I wondered if she knew what was going on. But then I realized I was just giving her a lot more credit than she was due.
S called me later in the evening to tell me that the vet bill would be in the thousands, and none of her Cat friends could foot the bill. But the city apparently runs a drop-off clinic daily, so the next morning she and her husband would drop off The Sheriff. While he would probably wind up being euthanized, at least his suffering would end. I thought it was the best we could do, and at least he was in a nice bed with a full stomach.
The next morning I got a surprise call from S. Seems that "somehow" The Sheriff escaped his cage in the middle of the night, and during the breakout, CLD noticed his friend, who quote "was obviously with him". Looks like Sheriff's sis found him after all!!! And as much as I think that he's probably gone to kittie heaven, there was a part of me that was thrilled with his sister's breaking him out. It seemed more fitting that, no matter what the outcome, it came on his terms and while he was with his sister.
Now maybe this whole post just confirms that I'm a bonafide cat lady. But I'm telling you, seeing Hashem' s creature act with such personality and emotion makes me appreciate Him that much more.
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