Willy's Story and Pictures |
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Guestbook Willy's StoryWilly was rescued from the streets after an ordeal I'll never forget! When I first got wind of him, it was through a phone call to the group I work with. The woman who called was in tears, and said there was a cat hiding under a condemned home, at a busy intersection. She thought Willy had two broken legs, and stated that he had to sit up like a rabbit. She had been feeding the starving cat for two weeks and was desperate to find help for him. Our shelter is a nonprofit, no-kill shelter. She was elated to have found us, as all the other groups she had contacted either wouldn't help, or would euthanize the cat. I drove the half hour drive, stocked with every conceivable trap that I might need. Driving into the driveway, I caught sight of a pitiful cat frantically scrambling to get to safety under the house. Realizing I would not be able to use a conventional trap, as his front legs would not trigger it, I set up my widest trap and used a rope to control the door. I baited it with fresh cooked chicken and waited a distance away in my car, with my hand clinging to the rope. A half hour passed before a very thin cat tentatively came out and headed in a shuffling motion toward the trap. I burst into tears watching this poor animal desperately scrabbling at the hard packed dirt to get to the trap. He headed in and ate a few bites of chicken, and a slight vibration of the rope apparently spooked him, and he went scrambling back under the house. Determined not to leave without him I sat and waited, tears running down my cheeks. A truck pulled into the driveway a short time later, and a man asked me if I was ------- --- - --- the houses evicted occupant. He was from the Board of Health and was trying to help the family, which had young children, get back on their feet, and back into their home. I told him why I was there, and he left {but not after volunteering that there were numerous cats needing trapping in the town, something I didn't want to hear}! I waited for Willy to come back out, and a while later he started to get the courage to come back out. No sooner did that happen, when a station wagon came flying into the driveway, and a very hostile man, reminiscent of Charlie Manson, got right up to my face demanding to know why I was there. I told him that a call had come into our group about a cat with a broken leg on the premises, and I was called to help. He told me it was "his cat, and get the ---- off his property!" I left shaken, but more determined than ever! For days I drove back there, always watching for his car, but didn't see Willy out after that. A month passed, and having a name, and street address to go by, I drafted a bogus letter to them. I have another cat with a hind leg deformity that was also cast out to the streets as a kitten, so Bonnie was part of the scheme. I wrote them that she needed a companion cat and would they consider selling him to me. I sent pictures of Bonnie, and an offer of 100.00 for him, knowing this family was in financial trouble. Return address was a friends P.O. box in another town. I got no response. I figured all was lost at that point, but never forgot Willy, and would always detour through that neighborhood if I was nearby. Nine months later a frantic call came from the same woman who called originally. They had been looking and watching for Willy for months, and figured he was dead, but he was hiding in their backyard under a truck cap! I baited my best trap ahead of time, this time mushing sardines onto the trigger so his face would trigger it, and drove off into the night exceeding the speed limit some! They pointed to where he was, and i quietly got near his hiding spot and put the trap down carefully. After 10 minutes I heard the satisfying SNAP, and dashed across the yard to cover him, and drove off elated! I set a very traumatized cat up in a cage and carefully checked him over. His spine was sticking out from starvation, he was un-nuetered and his front legs severely crippled, with toes going in all different directions. He was terrified {understandably so} of everything at first, but came to realize he was going to get a nice soft bed, food and water, and lots of love everyday. He went to the vets after he was stronger and got tested vaccinated and most importantly nuetered! His feet were examined and an ingrown toenail deep within his crippled paw, was removed. After a month he got up the courage to leave his kennel and started to explore his new home. Any little noise would send him scrambling in fear to his hiding spots. I have some area rugs, which he mostly stays on, and he has a hard time getting across the slippery floors as his front legs are useless to him. Also in the year that he has lived with me his paws have developed spurs, which are horn like protrusions coming out of his paw pads. These can't be comfortable, and I have debated about having them surgically removed. He does have the ability to get up on the couch, but has to psyche himself up to jump down as the landing, despite carpeting, must hurt! He has very stout hind legs which I suspect are also deformed [like a munckin cat} but these don't seem to bother him. So he lives his life now, nuetered and loved, and with padding in his favorite spots, to support his sore limbs. He terrified me not long ago while i was downstairs in the cellar. The door was open upstairs, and Willy had decided to follow me down the stairs partway. He started to lose his balance 10 stairs up and fell over the edge. thankfully my girlfriend saw it happening, and caught him before he hit the table below and fallen to the cement floor! I adore the boy and he adores me, and I cherish every day with him! For more information on Radial Hypoplasia visit http://thorin.adnc.com/~richlin Pictures of Willy
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