Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room

A small grey cat...

Early yesterday evening Chris-the-new-guy and I were out in front yard taking photos he could post on his Yahoo profile. It was about 6:30 or so, and we were just about done when we heard a cat mewling.

Neither of my cats were standing in the window demanding our attention, so Chris walked to the side of he porch where the sound seemed to be originating. There, he found a kitten.

A small kitten.

A tortured kitten.

After Chris got past his own shock of seeing this mutilated little thing, he called me over to see. He kept pointing out the tail of the small, gray kitten, a tail that was only a third as long as it should have been, ending in an exposed bone and a dangling flap of dead furry skin. Then we looked closer, and saw that the tail had other cuts, as though the freak responsible for this evil had tried unsucessfully to cut it off further down the tail but had given up and moved on.

It stood there and mewed at us, filthy and injured yet still alert, from the weeds at the base of the gas meter. It followed Chris across the yard, then rubbed his ankles when he stopped. It stood and raised up to butt the hands that reached to pet it. It flopped onto its back and writhed enticingly to get it's tummy rubbed. This suffering little kitten, no more than three months old, was sweet and loving when others would have been distrustful and afraid.

I looked at the kitten, watched Chris as he petted it, and decided I wasn't going to leave it out there. Whomever had done this might just find it again and finish the job. Not to mention the fact that leaving it out in the yard with it's wounds unattended was a death sentence of the worst kind.

I went and got the pet carrier from the back porch, got an upbraiding accompanied by horrid looks from the spouse when he saw it, and went out front. At least it would be confined and safe until I could decide what to do. Fed and watered by Chris, it started to calm, but it was decidedly unhappy about being confined.

Now, by this time it's 6:40pm. The Humane Society is open, but doesn't do rescue or abuse cases. Animal Control, aka "the pound", aka a "death sentence", is closed but has a voicemail so I leave the particulars on the case for them, just in case they decide to investigate the little Serial Killer in Training who did this. And then, because I cannot bring an unknown cat into the house with my two healthy and unexposed to germs little girlie girls, I call Sharon.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about Sharon. Sharon is one of the few "Animal People" I know who has as much sense as she has about it. No fauning member of PETA, or militant paint thrower, she steps up to the plate and does what needs to be done, even when others cannot. And that is just what she did.

After hearing about the kitten and its list of visible injuries, she got directions to my house and was there in no time. And when she saw him, she was just as angry and concerned as I have ever seen her. She dropped that little fuzzy-face into a carrier and sped off to a vet with evening hours. And then, after the kitten had been examined, she called and gave Chris an update.

What we saw when we looked at the kitten for the first time was not the full extent of its injuries. Yes, the flesh had been cut to the bone in several places on his little tail, and over half of it had been cut away. But it's little ears were hurt too. They were perforated with half-way done holes from a paper-puncher. You know, the office supply type that every 5th grader in the world wants as part of his school kit, so he or she can make confetti? Seems our little sociopath used one on the kitten's ears. Repeatedly.

And his fur was covered in something. And his ears, in addition to the punched out holes, had either axel grease or some sort of adhesive in them, so he had to be cleaned thoroughly before they could even work on him. Glue in a kitten's ears. Quaint.

But through it all, this little baby has remained sweet and loving and a real charmer. Even after his tail was amputated this morning, after being neutered, after the indignity of a bath, after being examined and poked and prodded and given shots and everything else, it just wants to be loved on.

This little baby is at Above and Beyond Animal Care in Avon, Indiana, recovering from it's surgery and trauma. I work with Sharon, so I know she's in no position to absorb the cost of saving this kitten and bringing it into her home.

If you can spare a little change, please send it to their address,

Above & Beyond Animal Care
10828 E US Hwy 36
Avon, IN 46123

and specify that it is to defray the surgery and care costs for the kitten brought in on August 24th by Sharon Wilson. I bet they'll even accept a credit card payment over the phone at (317) 273-1700 if you prefer to do it that way.

I have pictures in my files at home of Chris with the kitten as we found him. I'll post one when I get the chance. I just hope that someone in my neighborhood is missing a wee babe like this and sees him, so at least they'll know what happened to their pet. And if they have the freak of nature who did this living under their roof... well, I know what I'd do if it were one of my own who had done this. Not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Posted by Mamamontezz at August 24, 2005 08:37 PM | TrackBack