The Post Dave Made Me Write So I’d Quit Rehashing It Over And Over

by Leslie

If you’re hip to The Daily Haiku, you got the early scoop on the latest news a la Grimmett: we now have a tailless cat.

His name is Max. You may remember him from his Flickr debut last year:

A couple months ago, Max disappeared. I’d pretty much written him off as dead, because when you live out in the country with 50 gajillion cats, you learn firsthand that outdoor cats often have a short lifespan. But then, he showed up on Thursday. Without a tail.

I knew something was wrong when I first spotted him peeking out of a hidey hole in the garage. He was reluctant to come out and when he finally did after a bit of coaxing, he wouldn’t let me touch him. But he did give me the opportunity to see one of the most horrific sights of my life. His tail was almost completely gone. And it didn’t just fall off, folks. It appeared that it had been ripped off. There was a bit of bone protruding out where his tail used to be, surrounded by a lot of mutilated flesh. It was like nothing I’d seen before.

I grabbed some salmon, tossed it in a cat carrier and lured him in for a trip to the vet. The ride there was uneventful. Max was obviously hurt and scared, but very quiet and still. When I opened the door to the carrier in the examining room at the vet’s office, he cowered in the corner and refused to come out. The vet tech said, “Leslie, I’m going to leave you alone with him for a few minutes to see if you can coax him out and settle him down. I’ll be right back.” And she left.

The moment the door clicked shut behind her, Max completely flipped out. He bolted out of the carrier and around the office, yowling and screaming. He climbed up the walls, tipped a table, and jumped up onto the floor lamp. The light bulb popped and the vet tech yelled through the door, “Leslie! Come out of there!”

I ran to the door, slipped out, closed it and stood there listening to Max destroy the room. I put my hands on the door and talked into it, “It’s okay kitty! It’s okay Max!”

Then, the vet tech emerged with a large towel. She nudged me aside and entered the room. I stood there, once again, behind the closed door and listened to the crashes and cries while the vet tech cooed softly, “It’s okay buddy. It’s okay buddy.”

Thirty seconds later, it was quiet. The vet tech said, “I got him. You can come in.”

I opened the door to complete devastation. The cat had wrecked the room. The vet tech said, “He’s alright.”

“How about you?” I asked, noticing blood on the towel.

“Oh, I’m fine. He didn’t even scratch me.” The blood was his.

My hands were shaking as I helped her put the room back together. I had never seen a cat freak out like that. And that’s all I could keep saying. It was scary.

Soon, the vet came in, looked at him through the carrier and decided to give him a shot of anesthesia through the bars and take him straight to surgery.

Today he came home, looking like this.

The vet said there was extensive damage, but Max will eventually be okay. He’s been through quite a trauma and as much as his body needs to heal, so does his spirit. He’s one broken down kitty cat.

Hopefully, we can help build him up again.

Posted in Mommy's Stuff, Photos, Critters |

Comments

11 Cool Kids Came To Play

Karly on June 14, 2008 9:32 pm
This made me cry! What the hell happened to Max’s tail? Did the vet have any ideas? That poor little kitty!

If anyone can take good care of that little kitty its you. Poor baby. I wanna hug him.
Leslie's Mom on June 14, 2008 9:58 pm
I wish we knew what happened to Max. A neighbor told us today that she had seen a coyote just down the road from our house. I’ve heard that coyotes are viscious.
I’m just so thankful he is safe. Thank goodnes Leslie is so good with our many many kitties…
Chris H on June 15, 2008 1:28 am
OH that poor Cat! I am so glad someone like you cared for him enough to get him fixed up. I would have too, even though I am SO NOT a cat person.
Jan on June 15, 2008 8:35 pm
Poor Max. I’m glad he came home. (((HUGS))) MAX !!

Blessings,
Jan
Laurie on June 15, 2008 11:10 pm
Oh, poor Max!
Toni on June 15, 2008 11:52 pm
Poor kitty. I was just starting to tear up over this when I noticed your title and I had to laugh. Good for Dave for recognizing that you just needed to blog about it already.
Jenn in Holland on June 17, 2008 9:39 am
Max looks a lot like my very first kitten, Jamie. I hope that Max’s recovery is swift and full. Poor kitty.
Jen in MI on June 17, 2008 10:38 am
Poor, poor kitty. He’s so lucky to have you, though. I hope he does much better soon.
Daddy Forever on June 17, 2008 8:16 pm
Poor Max. I hope he gets better soon. Both physically and mentally.
KiS on June 20, 2008 8:18 pm
Oh my god, I want to bite the nose off whatever bastard did that to him. (Yes, I am a cat person)

That’s awful, poor poor kitty. Your such a good kitty momma, I can’t fathom the pain he was in. Makes me grrrrr for him.
klcrab on June 28, 2008 4:34 pm
Last year we adopted a stray cat. She vanished about 6 weeks after we got her, we searched high and low. 6 days later she managed to get home again- damaged but here. We took her to the vet and she had been hit by a car and was pretty badly hurt- She had a fractured pelvis and a broken tail- time passed, the tail works again - sort of and she walks a litle sideways but she is a rockin cat- your kitty should be fine given enough love and time.