Buddy's Story - Episode I

Over the next few weeks, I will write the story of Buddy. He had a rough existence before I took a chance on him. I made a promise to him from the very beginning that no matter how scared he was, and even if he never let me pet him, I’d give him a loving home for the rest of his life. The small chance I took on a forgotten, injured cat has given me a kitty buddy beyond my wildest hopes. Over the past two years, he has transformed from scared, unsure kitty to a feline who wants to know where I am, and enjoys interacting with me. This is our story together.

Poor Buddy would hiss when you set down food

Buddy is like so many homeless adult cats whose origins are shrouded in mystery and neighborhood lore. But he was a special kind of homeless cat - badly injured.

There are many stories published about rescued animals. Many are harrowing tales of how the animal was left for dead or so neglected they were barely clinging to life. I have worked at two different horse rescues and two cat rescues; I’ve seen this sort of thing first hand. I’ve seen how grateful animals can be when someone shows them kindness and love after they’ve been tossed aside. However, I’ve never witnessed an animal's "re-birth" after being rescued from a forgotten existence. I didn't know it at the time, but one day, Buddy would fully learn what it meant to be a pampered house cat, and he would enjoy every minute of it.

In March and April of 2018, I saw a large, black cat coming and going in and around my yard. One day in late April, he showed up in my yard and had horrible damage to one of his eyes. I started feeding him. He was very protective of his food and hissed as it was handed to him. I had no idea how old he was, but he looked about 100 in cat years. His ears were beat up and crooked. His fur was ragged. His eye was bad. He was a hot mess. As the days wore on, and he visited more often, my dear friend had named him “Buddy” because our resident cats seemed to rally around him, as if to indicate, "hey mom, this guy needs help!"

Poor Buddy had an injured eye and was generally in rough shape

I sent word out via digital means to see if anyone knew about Buddy, or if anyone was missing a cat. Pretty soon neighbors were coming forward claiming they’d been feeding him for 7 years, 10 years, etc. When they saw he was hurt and needed help (and I made an offer to pay for all medical care), a team of us came together. One neighbor provided a trap. Another neighbor managed to trap him. One lady came forward to claim it was her cat, only to realize it wasn’t (her cat had disappeared years prior, but was already neutered; Buddy was NOT neutered). She took him to the vet anyway to get the neutering and enucleation done. I covered the eye removal surgery and two other neighbors covered his neutering costs. Two additional neighbors came forward and gave me money to help cover the cost of the eye surgery. I met my neighbor at the vet’s office and took over Buddy’s care and ownership. One person even sent me a 12 pack of cat food via a large online retailer. What awesome neighbors!!

As I was driving home with this feral cat in my back seat in the "Have a Heart" trap, I was wondering “what am I doing!?” Then Buddy started to growl as his anesthetic was wearing off. “Oh my…what have I gotten myself into!!??” But we made it home, and I took him straight upstairs. He had the run of two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. My two close friends had moved out a few weeks prior, so very little furniture remained. Buddy had room to move around, but hiding spots too.

One of the remaining dressers. It gave Buddy cover.

I was concerned about making sure my new family member had food and water, and as much peace and quiet as he needed. I wasn't sure what to expect from him the first few days. I was also concerned that he was healing properly from the neutering and enucleation surgeries. I would check on him every few hours, and usually find him hiding under one of the dressers, or in the larger closet. He would hiss as he saw me, but he didn't run away. I was very respectful of his personal space, so I kept my visits brief enough to check food, water, and litter box use. To my pleasant surprise, he was polite about using the litter boxes, and he was eating and drinking. One evening, he was even sleeping peacefully on a little pillow I'd made for him. I was very hopeful.

In the next episode, I'll go into more details about how Buddy started to figure out this whole "indoor cat" living arrangement, but he still had a long way to go.