๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ
I was first introduced to this little tuxedo kitten when I was working at a 24 hour veterinary hospital. He was found under the hood of a truck and a man brought him in.
๐ผ๐ก๐๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฉ
I knew this man well from my previous experience with him. He is a horrible man. You see, his cat named Alex had a urinary obstruction, which is very common in male cats. Alex, the cat, couldnโt pee. His urethra was blocked with crystals. Instead of bringing his cat in, the man decided to squeeze on his catโs bladder. A urinary obstruction is extremely painful. Squeezing on a catโs bladder when one doesnโt know how to do it, or one isnโt advised to do it is BAD!
๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ง
Although Alex the cat was screaming in agony, his owner still squeezed on his bladder, and it ruptured. Did he bring Alex in at this point? No! When a catโs bladder ruptures, the urine seeps into the abdominal cavity, causing sepsis.
So, now, Alex not only has a blocked urethra, he also has a ruptured bladder. I cannot even imagine the pain this poor cat suffered. The man decided to use an xacto knife to cut into his catโs abdomen to remove the urine. I donโt know about you, but Iโve sliced my finger a time, or two with a knife AND IT HURTS! Now, imagine having your abdomen sliced open with no anesthesia, or pain medication. Not to mention, the dirty fur and non-sterile knife and environment.
๐ผ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐
The owner waited a couple of days after he sliced Alexโs abdomen open. Alex is now in critical condition with a very guarded prognosis. After surgery, to piece Alexโs bladder and abdomen back together, and insert a catheter into his penis to help with the urine flow, Alex was placed in intensive care. Such a sweet boy for everything his owner put him through. Needless to say, the owner paid thousands of dollars to fix his cat. Alex was in ICU for weeks. He eventually pulled through.
๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค
So when this little tuxedo cat was surrendered by this man, I knew there was no chance I was going to let this man change his mind on this kitten. I was the tech who triaged this kitten found under the hood, and I needed to bathe him to remove all of the grease from his fur.
I still remember bathing this little kit. He clung to me. Trying to detach him from me was like removing velcro, hence his name.
The next night, I heard that the man had come into the hospital that morning looking to adopt this kitten. Once an animal is surrendered, that person gives up all rights to the animal. Luckily for Velcro, I had taken him home after my shift was over.
๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค’๐จ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ
Velcro continued to hang onto me. Didnโt matter how big he got – only nine pounds. If I picked him up, he would cling to my shirt, or sit on my shoulder. His meow was hilarious, he sounded like a siren.
๐พ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃ’๐ฉ ๐ผ๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฉ
When Velcro would try to jump onto surfaces, anything on those surfaces would go flying, as would Velcro. Sometimes, he would land on the surface he was trying to jump on, and other times, heโd go flying right over it, landing with a thud on his side. Luckily, he was always OK.
๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค & ๐๐๐จ ๐พ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐
When you live in the woods, creatures that are not your pets, come into the house, uninvited. When all three of your cats are staring at the refrigerator, you just know there is something underneath it.
After removing the refrigerator from the wall, a little mouse scurried behind my oven. Sigh. The mouse was first picked up by No Mar who dropped it immediately, then Miss Blur played with it for a few minutes, then Velcro got ahold of this poor traumatized mouse. Velcro had his canine teeth removed due to stomatitis, an autoimmune disease of the mouth. So this little mouse wasnโt injured while it was in Velcroโs mouth. But as another mouse had entered into the house during this ruckus, I was able to catch and release it back outside. But when I opened the door, Velcro with the first mouse escaped. He wandered all around the house, meowing. Iโm sure he was delighted with his capture. But I told him that the mouse couldnโt care less about his story of whatever he was trying to communicate.
Needless to say, he finally got bored with the mouse and dropped it. The mouse was in shell shock. Itโs a good thing that the mouse stayed put while I gathered Velcro into my arms, and back inside the house. I checked on the mouse, but it was gone.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค
Velcro lived for 12 years, which isnโt an old age. But he ended up with cancer and when he stopped eating, it was time for me to let him go. He was a joy to have as a pet. He got along great with the other cats and dogs that I had. I can still hear his siren voice.
Velcro passed away shortly before my Mom did. The signs he was showing were what my Mom was dealing with. It really put it into perspective, and I was able to explain stuff to my Mom – like her ascites – fluid retained in the abdominal cavity – because Velcro also suffered from this. At Velcroโs passing, I still thought my Mom would live. But having an infection and cancer is not easy on the immune system.
Itโs been years now – five to be exact, and I still miss this little guy.
JC Heart Designs 