Conference quark::human_relations-v1

    
    Buy the cat a drink..
    
    It is verrry lucky to have survived 9 rounds with a raccon.
    
    

    
    [Good going, Nigel; wanna call him "Chutney"? ;-) ]
    
    As one of the certified soft-on-cats crowd, I've had this problem too.
    Encountered a banged-up cat sitting by the roadside, no indication of
    owners nearby; took it to the vet to have it repaired, figuring I'd
    keep it if no owners showed up; owners eventually did show up, in the
    person of small child who recognized the cat and reported me to its
    folks; I cheerfully returned cat to family, with muttered remarks about
    "the vet said it would recover", hoping to indicate that they owed me
    some cash, but they didn't volunteer and I didn't press. (Of course,
    that was more like $75 than $200; I might not have been so polite in
    the latter case.)
    
    No recommendations, I'm afraid. If I really _couldn't_ take another
    cat, and couldn't afford the money, I'd probably say so to the vet and
    leave the decision to him/her, but - especially if it were a very
    charismatic cat - I'd feel badly about it for quite a while.
    
    Of course, I'm usually on the other end. I show up at the vet's for one
    of my cats' usual checkups, and the vet asks if I want to see the
    really cute kitten with the broken leg that somebody found on the
    highway; bang! I've got another kitten. (That one cost about $200,
    but the vet was nice enough to split it with me, since he suckered me
    into taking the cat.) Another time it was "the cute kitten somebody
    left on the doorstep", and zap! home she goes with me. At this point,
    if the vet starts out, "Do you want to see..." I shriek and run...
    
    -b

>b.  take the cat to the vet and say "but if it's gonna cost money, I'll just
>have him put to sleep."  I didn't like that idea much; somehow the thought of 
>killing a cat because I didn't want to spend the money on it seemed a little 
>callous (yes, even for me)

Would the vet have put the cat to sleep if you said you couldn't afford to pay?
Why should it be your moral dilemma?  Had the cat been a human being, would you
offer to pay the hospital?  

    
    I did the same thing...sort of....
    I purchased a puppy from the Pound. Cost me $45. 3 hours later I found
    out that he had Parvo and little chance of living. 
    The pound informed me that they would take the puppy back and refund me
    my $45, and put him to sleep...
    
    so ..I took him to a vet...it cost me $250 to have him cured...(then I
    gave him away cause my ORIGINAL dog came back home)...
    
    did i feel STUPID???  sure.  I sure had other uses for my $250. (plus
    the $45 from the pound)....but you can sure get attached to some poor
    suffering fuzzy mammal in just a short time. ..and I guess part of
    me feels good that I did what I *think* was the right thing. 
    Saving a life HAS to be the right thing!
                                 

        re .4,
        
>> I purchased a puppy ...
        
        After millions of years of evolution, babies of any
        species are adorable to any other species.  It's survival
        of the cutest. :-)
        
        Dan

    Nigel,
    
    Good luck with your owner search.  I think it was wonderful that you
    took the cat in.  I am pretty sure I'd spend my hard earned cash on
    an injured animal if the need presented itself.  (I'm a major soft
    touch...after all, I'm supplementing the diets of 7 ferral cats 
    that live near my apartment complex.)
    
    Just wondering, have you thought about posting this in VAXWRK::FELINE?
    I don't know where you are located but there are FELINErs all over
    the place.  There are alot of very concerned cat lovers in that file
    that may be able to offer some advice/assistance (assuming you would
    like some).  Also, there are no guarantees but, there have been instances 
    where several of the FELINErs have contributed to the cost of the vet 
    care/rescue of an injured stray cat.
    
    Jan

    They make great dog food. 8^)
    
    -j

    Reminds me of the time our college house cat decided to jump out the
    window...of a car doing 50 on the way to Florida.  Instant declawing
    and instant hernia.
    
    The vet (which they eventually found) estimated around $200 to take
    care of her.  One guy questioned the value of that, but everyone else
    voted to save the cat.  The jump took care of having to fix her, too.
    
    Naturally, the cat ran away later that yearrrrr...:-P

    I'd been feeding Spook off and on for a year and a half when he came by
    and had a pretty bad bite taken out of his neck.  A long story is
    available here but he is now a healthy neutered stray who comes by and begs
    pets from everybody and it only cost me $300+.
    
    ed

    Cat is a beautiful grey/black tiger.  He was a Boston alleycat that
    ventured to the front of the buildings.  Bold and friendly.  I fed him
    for a year and he disappeared.  We searched for him and finally gave
    up.
    
    A month later he returned to the stoop with his rear quarters in
    terrible shape.
    
    $625 later he was put back together.  His love, attention, wit and
    devotion have surpassed the initial investment.  It was money well
    spent.

    I would have called the local Humane Society.  If they didn't answer, I
    would have called the local Police Dept. and explained the situation.
    [In fact, I have done this in the past with an injured skunk and other
    injured animals].  
    
    The rest would have been up to whomever you called.  If you didn't want
    the animal put to sleep, then I would assume that you would pay for its
    medical fees, since THAT would have been your choice.

FROM USENET:

	As one who is an unabashed admirer of cats, telling this story
is somewhat painful.  This is a true story which happened during the late
1970's.  My wife has firsthand knowledge of the circumstances since, at the
time, she was a police officer in whose jurisdiction the incident occurred.

	There is a small rural town, somewhat northeast to the city of
Niagara Falls, NY.  One evening, a resident of the town called the local
volunteer fire department to request assistance in removing their cat
from a tree.  Since this was a "questionable" call, the fire control
dispatcher called the fire chief at home to ask if he wanted to respond.
The chief said sure, call out the department, since it was early evening
and it shouldn't be a problem for the volunteers to respond.

	The fire department responded with a rescue truck which had an
extension ladder.  The tree, however, was too tall and willowy to support
the weight of the extension ladder.  Rather than send men back to the fire
hall to bring the aerial ladder truck, one of the firefighters suggested
an alternate course of action.  Two of the firefighters supported the
ladder while a third climbed high enough to tie a rope around the tree at
about half its height.

	The other end of the rope was tied to a trailer hitch on a pickup
truck, with the truck slowly driven forward, forcing the tree to bend over.
One firefighter was poised to grab the cat as soon as it was within his
reach.

	The knot securing the rope to the trailer hitch slipped free.

	The cat was last seen airborne heading south toward the city of
Niagara Falls, and was never seen again.

	This incident adds a rather new definition to the word "catapult".

	Needless to say, the particular fire department did not receive
praise from the local ASPCA when the story made its rounds.  Please note
that this story is not meant to put down volunteer fire departments, who
perform a dedicated and essential community function.

    I saw a cat struck by a car right in front of mine.  I stopped to
    help since the man who hit it did not.  It cost me $300+.  I found
    the owners and told them what happened.  I didn't mention the price
    and they didn't ask.  I really don't mind that much about the money.
    I did it for the cat, not the owners.
    
    
                                   L.J.

    re-.2
    I have never laughed so hard in my life wish I could have seen it in
    person.  
    
    -j

    About a week ago, while driving into work, I saw a cat which must have
    just been hit by someone..  The cat was in the middle
    of the road, thrashing around. 
    
    First instinct was the good old human response "keep Driving".  Second
    thought was "Stop and get the poor animal out of the road before some
    ass runs it over again".   I didn't have anything to pick it up with
    and by the time I decided I was going to pull over, I was down the
    road.  I stopped at a payphone and called the Springfield SPCA Animal
    Hospital.  I received the reply that "No one's around to do that sort of
    thing until 8 am".  (it was 7am).  Quetions on what to do met with a
    verbal shrug.  Apparantly, a cat's life isn't worth much. 
    
    I decided to go back and see what I could do for the cat.  I expected
    it to be dead by the time I got back (1/4 mile away from the phone),
    and I expected the large truck I saw go by to squash it flat like the 5
    opposums/racoons I passed before I saw the cat.
    
    The cat was dead, but not flat.  It was still warm when I picked it
    up and moved it out of the road.  A lovely orange and white tabby,
    clean, no collar. Could have been someone's pet, could have been wild.
    It's head flopped loosely when I scooped it up.  It's eyes were open,
    but glazing over.  There wasn't a mark on it, I presume it's back had
    been broken and it probably died of hemorrhaging (sp) from internal
    injuries.  
    
    I realize this wasn't exactly a war time medical effort, and things
    could have been a lot more grisly, but I still remember that cat and I
    get a cold feeling when I think of seeing it wildy trashing.  I never,
    never want to see that again.  
    
    To relate to the topic, if the cat had been alive when I got to it, I
    would have done whatever it took to get the animal to a vet and paid
    whatever it took to get it fixed, if possible.  Any $$ outlay to me,
    right now, is horrendous, but I don't think I could give it second
    thought.  I know it was only a cat, but that's what would make me pay
    for it more.  It was *only* a cat--who else would do it?  The person
    who hit it didn't stop.  No one else tried to get it out of the road
    before it got squashed flat. I guess I did it because I didn't think
    anyone else would.
    
    A cat's life is worth whatever people decide it is.  Sad, but true.
    
    kim

    	I disagree -- *all* life is precious, no matter what the person
    or people involved may think.


    	I once had a situation where I noticed a hurt animal by the side of
    the road.  Actually, by the side of the driveway is more accurate as it
    was the driveway to ZKO that I found it.  I was driving to ZKO3, and
    noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye.  I looked in my rear
    view mirror and saw something grey bouncing near the road.  I turned
    around and went back to find a small bird with a hurt wing, and who
    knows what internal injuries.


    	I was very distraught, as I found myself in the midst of a moral
    dilemma:  on the one hand, I *love* animals and very much wanted to get
    a box to put the bird in and take it home to see if I could nurse it
    back to health; on the other hand I had a meeting to go to and would
    miss it if I did this.


    	My compromise was to take it off the road and lay it on the grass a
    few feet from the driveway.  I figured I could come back later and get
    it.  I never found it.


    	On a more positive note, my sister and I found a bird that was not
    quite old enough to fly and must have been abandoned.  We fed it and
    took care of it and eventually, with some coaching from us, it learned
    to fly.  I remember feeling very good watching it fly off.  I also
    remember thinking what an ingrate the bird was not to even look back!
    ;-)


    Brian

    Should'a just sent mail to salem::towle_c.  Cat problems fixed while
    you wait.
    
    - M

Thanks, Mike.  God, that brings back memories.

				(-:
				NIGEL

	Once, A few years back I was driving near my house and a small
		cat ran across the road. I had no time to do anything
			...I heard a thump as I was standing upright on
			the brakes!!
			shit......

		I stopped in the road and ran around to the front of the
	car... The cat was lying in a good sized pool of blood already.
	The cat looked at me and I was destroyed.
		I took off my coat. (sorry if this is a little broken
		I still tear up when I think about it...)
	And layed the cat on it and placed it on my lap in the car.
		I drove to the only vet I knew in the area and pounded
		on his door (it was around 10:30 at night). When the doc
			opended the door I just held the kitty out
			to him, I couldn't even speak.
	He took the cat back into the operating room and tried for about
	1 hour to say the cat. He never once asked me for any fees or costs.
		We sat together for a couple and I took the cat home
		and buried him out in a pasture. I cried for a few days
			and finally placed an add in the local papers
			for the owner. I never found out who the original
		owner was, but for a few hours that cat belonged to me.

			I guess it still does.

		No moneatary value could be placed on that cats life.
					
					I still hurt.
			
							GEO