I found the above quote at a blog I like written by and Englishwoman living in France, A Mouse in France and the quote comes from a fellow Granite Stater, Amy Kane. Mouse's post made me think about how many of us who love cats have cat shaped holes in our hearts. And there are cats that you just know will give you another one. Fergus was one of those.
hmmmm, I was trying to post that photo and another all day yesterday and thought I was going to have to redo the entire blog on blogspot. I will try to finish this post interrupted. If I can, I will tell you the rest of the story!
Here comes the rest of the story, which is about a small cat named Dancer.He is about eight months old, grey and thin with strange copper colored eyes. When he is free to get some exercise in the shelter he runs around chirping and singing.
He has a serious medical issue that will probably kill him by the time he is a year old.It's called a liver shunt and I don't understand much about it except that his liver doesn't function and the ammonia levels climb too high in his blood. It accounts for the strange and beautiful eye color. He is on special food and a drug that neutraiizes the bile acids that cause the high ammonia levels.He has had two seizures already. The shelter is looking into what can be done for him but the cost is very high, maybe up to four thousand dollars.
The last time I was at the shelter I met this little cat. He was running around after we tried to take his photo. He was very vocal, very curious, commenting on everything.A very lively and aware little creature. Then I heard squeals of terror and ran to find him, along with Sandy from the shelter.
We found him cowering and shaking in an open closet he had been exploring happily. He was having a seizure. His bladder and bowels were emptying and he was very frightened. Sandy took him off to take care of him and later I heard he was ok.
But I can still hear those terrified cries.
I don't know what can be done for him. The shelter can't jusitfy spending maybe four thousand dollars to save one little cat when there are seventy in residence and more arriving all the time. And the surgery as far as we know at this time, has an 85% chance of saving him. What do you do?
At the same time, the little creature wants to live. He was scared when he felt what was happening to him. In an ideal world there would be help for all who needed it.
Most likely, Dancer will die. At the shelter. And we'll all have another cat shaped hole in our hearts.
If anyone who reads this has an idea on how to help him please let me know. I don't know if it is right to ask people to donate when your local shelters all need your help. If we come up with a fundraiser I will let you know. And if you do want to donate that is the link to the shelters page with the paypal button. Be sure to say it is for Dancer.
7 comments:
I know that my heart has a few holes in it.
I was trying all day to upload that photo and another and finish my story! Blogger is driving me nuts, it looks like I can't upload because the blog is hosted on my own server. I'll try to figure it out today but you may see a new version of Caturday if this continues!
Currently Blogger is not showing the comments posted in the main window. But if I click on coments here they are. Grrrr!
Oh, Dancer's story just breaks my heart. I would be happy to donate some of our products for a fundraiser, or do the fundraiser on my blog, or work with you in any way you can think of to help him. And I'll definitely put up a post about him and link to this post in my sidebar.
Sharolyn
P.S. You can email me from my blog.
Sharolyn
I don't know what to say or offer, Zuleme. But if you do decide to do a fundraiser for him, I'll be happy to donate a piece of jewelry or two as well and make a cash donation too.
The only other thing I can think of is, maybe the shelter would consider letting him be adopted at a reduced adoption fee to someone who would let him live out his life in a happy place?
My heart breaks for him and for the wonderful people at the shelter who have to make these decisions. They must have huge hearts to handle all the holes they end up having.
Nora (F B & J's mom)
It's not often I say "yes, that one needs to be saved" it's a constant reminder that there are too many cats and not enough homes, funds, places, etc. We do need to save Dancer, any cat that is so into life that they cry out at the fact hey are sick needs to be saved if at all possible...we say 85% is better than "won't live to be a year old". If you decide to hold a fund raiser I will make catnip toys for auction! I'll squeeze my friends, relatives and neighbors for funds. Let's give Dancer a chance.
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