It's Official#i screwed up

[BabyGrace]

my neighbor's cat, who I posted about before in a rant, is really sick and I think I may have just sealed her fate.
a couple of days ago her jaw was so swollen that I thought she'd broken it, but then the swelling ruptured and I realized it was just an absess. but when it ruptured, it left a wound about the size of a dime..
now that wound has spread to twice the size of a quarter; it's absolutely huge, so i talked to my neighbor and told him that he has to take her to the vet, and he was fine with it as long as I caught her because she's pretty wild and wont let him near her.
so she was going to go today, and she was going to be fixed too, but when I went over to catch her, I screwed up bigtime.

Im the only one she lets near her so I fed her some milk and was petting her and then I went to grab her, but I missed her front paws, and I couldn't grab her by the scruff because the wound is so huge that my hand would literally be in her neck. so basically, I just picked her up with bare hands, and I had no way to control her. she started fighting me bigtime, she clawed me through my shirt, on my back, my one leg, and all over my arms, and then she bit me on one of my hands, and I couldn;t do anything but drop her because she was going for my face

now she's run off, and she's not going to let me get near her again because I blew it, and I know if this cat doesn't get to the vet she will die because you should've smelled her..her skin is rotting and it's the worst wound Ive ever seen on a domestic animal; it's just grotesque. and if she dies, it's going to be all my fault. I dont know what to do

 

[Calluna]

Oh babygrace, I'm so sorry to hear about the kitty. Please dont blame yourself, you did the best you could under the circumstances, even to the point of getting yourself scratched and bitten up in the process. Sounds to me like that kitty might be too wild to be captured.

There is one other thing you could try: Get one of those live animal traps that they use for raccons and possums and stuff. It's a metal cage that you put food inside of to lure the cat in and once inside the door slams shut, it doesnt hurt the animal in any way, it just freaks them out a bit but it would be worth it if you could get the kitty some medical help. This trick will only work once because after that they know that it is a trap and will avoid it but it could be just the thing.

If not, dont beat yourself up over it, you tried your best.

 

[Screaming Flower]

i'm sorry bg. that's terrible. i'm for you and the kitty.

 

[daisybean]

That is too bad

It sounds like she is a outdoor only type cat, make sure you clean the scratches really good and disinfect them, so you don't get sick yourself.

I hope she turns up and you can get her to the vet and get her fixed up.

 

[Sicy]

sad kitty stories make me sad

It sounds like you did your best.. dont beat yourself up about it.

I'm sure the kitty will come back to you.

* hopes the kitty will be ok.

 

[ti-hua]

Wow. I'm really sorry to here about your situation. I do hope the kitty comes back. Don't blame yourself though. You were only trying to help her.

But if she's an outdoor kitty and she has scratched and bitten you make sure you take care of yourself too. Especially if she has bitten you. Puncture wounds can get infected very easily.

 

[Angela Harlem]

You didn't screw up sweetie. Cats are temperamental moody things. Screwing up would be doing nothing, while knowing you could have tried something.
As well as looking after yourself, try what calluna said. If you cant get access to a trap, ask a vet if they can lend you one to catch it. Failing that, semi wild or not, the cat is used to being fed, it wont wander too far hopefully. Wait her out, befriend her again, I know you have an abundance of patience. Perhaps try and old pillow case or something. Make a sudden grab and stuff her in it. I know this sounds terribly cruel and may very well distress her, but she is probably already quite on edge with pain or sickness from the infection. The important thing is to get her medical attention as soon as you can. Maybe you can get someone from your work to come help, or do they do wild animals only?
I hope you can keep trying or that it hangs around so you can. Will you let us know what happens? Be careful Nik, and dont blame yourself for whatever happens.
Best of luck

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

BG....I'm sorry to hear about sick kitty.

You did all you could for her. I really hope she gets well.

*hugs*

 

[christiana]

Can you get any help from some kind of animal organisations(In HK we call that 'Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' but I'm not sure how do you call it in the states...). If you can, I think it may be better 'cause they have some helpful tools and more experienced people working with that.

I'm so sorry for that cat... But please, Nikki, don't blame yourself. You've done everything you can do. You were just trying to help. It really wasn't you fault...

 

[BabyGrace]

I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean for this to turn into a pity thread, but that's the way I wrote it, my fault.
Thank you all for your concern & suggestions; right now I can't get anywhere near her, obviously, but my mom gave her some milk this morning and managed to pet her once before she ran off so she's going to try and just quickly smear some antibiotic cream on it everytime she gets a chance. It's probably too late for that to do anything but it's better than nothing. And if she gets a really good chance, we're prepared with a towel and gloves this time, maybe we'll get her.
And the other thing is, right now her body's holding up against the infection but it won't forever, so maybe she'll become weak enough for us to get ahold of her...hopefully she'll stay around because her babies are there...and hopefully it won't be too late at that point. We've thought about a rabies pole too, the place I work at won't help because she's domestic but they could lend us one; again that's on her neck...
We're also calling the owner up in NH and asking if they would allow their vet to come out and try to catch her, we'll see where that goes. I will let you guys know what happens, whether she gets to the vet, makes it somehow on her own, or doesn't make it.
Im sorry that this kind of thing gets me so worked up, it's just frustrating...thanks again, you're all wonderful.

 

[foray]

foray likes when kittens claw you when you pick them up

Poor kitten

foray

 

[Laura M]

Lara likes when the kitties cling to your jumper and purr and miaoooow

aaaaw poor kitty

I hope the cat is gonna be ok

 

[NYbrowneyedgirl]

I am very sorry about the cat, but I really hope you have gotten some medical attention, since this seems to be a wild cat. There really is such a thing as "cat scratch fever" I cant remeber the medical term for it, but the disease is not pleasant. When I worked at a doctor's office a few years back, one of our patients had it and he had to come in for treatiments on a regular basis.

Please see your doctor if you haven't already!

 

[ACROB@T]

Please see your doctor if you haven't already!

I would advise this as well Nikki, it isn't uncommon for such problems to arise and its better to be safe than sorry just in case.

hope she comes back