Rescue Journal

saints welcomes sir brutus (and i did not name him)

Carol  ·  Jun. 21, 2010

he has an interesting and all too familiar story.

brutus, a plain black, wild tom cat lived outside of a house for 9 years...when the house sold 4 years ago, the new family knew he was there...and there he has been living for almost 13 years. he survived by eating birds and whatever he could find. he disapperared back in january...he showed up again several months later...weak in the bad end, thin and matted. the family started feeding him but could not get near him or touch him.

eventually he let them pet his head and they contacted a group in vancouver who help homeless street cats with vet costs and TNR (trap neuter and release) the plan was to catch this old street cat, get him the vet care he needed and then put him back outside and continue to provide him with food...this group does not run a shelter or have the ability house cats long term.

once he got into the vets several things were discovered...he was anemic, he had a poorly healed pelvic fracture which now was causing him pain with arthritis, he was suffering from kidney disease and dental disease and needed his canines extracted, he was unneutered BUT he had an untraceable tattoo (this happens occasionally, it is a little known fact in rescue...cats who go into the cheap vets which rescues can afford for neutering or spaying are done on an assembly line basis with 20 or 30 cats sedated in a row and pushed thru the line to get their eventual spay or neuter, vaccines, tattoo's...just let one interruption to the assembly line process...a question asked of the vet...a telephone call that has to be answered and a cat gets actually pushed thru without getting his or her spay/neuter but does pick up their vaccines/tattoo as the line continues to move thru...hey it happens when you surgically alter that many cats in a few hours.... shit happens)

anyway, the reality is...brutus apparently got a tattoo and an ear notch in 1996 but somehow missed the neuter. i bet he was an adult street cat TNR'd way back then. what is really sad about this is...brutus is not a feral cat...he was once somebody's pet who has since been living and surviving on the streets for most of his life, right into his very old age...that has got to suck big time for him.

anyway again...this particular groups vet that took some time examining him and doing diagnostics said that brutus is somewhere between 15-20. his back end is painful and weak, he wobbles and falls over, plus he is sick with kidney disease.....the group providing his vet care have no where for him to go...the family providing him with food are unable to let him live in their home...so where was poor old and wrecked brutus to go?

the only option was back on the street...no one wanted that for him so brutus is now our newest saint living temporarily in the medical room in a temporary cage.

we really do not have room for him but then we really could not turn him away.

and this is how shelters and sanctuaries get overful...too many really sad lives are trying really hard to keep living out there.

et tu brutus?

welcome little old man.

Comments

nicole~trapping in surrey

Carol,

A huge THANK YOU! Thank you for being human engough to care. You are a gift to us all! I am so GRATEFUL for you! In case no one has told you lately......

YOU ROCK!


SMILES:)

maria

yes carol it is very difficult to see the cats i find with horrible injurys beyond saving,, I am all for the no kill movement and we try our best to give the ones who have treatable injurys a chance at happiness, but sometimes i find kittys with injurys beyond help..it is then i feel the kindest thing is to put them down with me at thier side.
However long brutus has, he now has a home
Thankyou Carol.. Rescuing him was the easy part,,, caring for him and his kidneys is long term,, i wish him the best

Carol

jenn will post a picture of him but it won't be before the weekend when she is here next. we did get all of his records including the blood panel...thank you so much that saves us some money in vet care...our vet accounts owing are over $17,000 again.

i will say it again...focusing on cat rescue only is the hardest and most heartbreaking of all types of rescue....there are literally thousands of them in dire straights..out on the streets, waiting in shelter cages, and even more barely hanging by their toe nails not to get kicked out the doors of what ever homes they have now. their rescuers do not stand a chance of coming close to helping them all.

in our society...it sucks to be an at risk and vulnerable cat....almost as much as it sucks to be a cat rescuer...maybe one day it will get better and folks will be more responsible cat owners...wouldn't that be a nice change?

karen

Thank you so much Carol and Saints for taking on this guy. we are seeing so many like him these days.. it is really really hard for all our volunteers ..we won't put an old guy or sick one back out if feral..and esp if tame. the trouble is there are so many in this shape and so few places for them to go. Maybe someone will fall for Brutus..( i didn't name him either!) and take him to enjoy his last years in a home. I am hoping he has some real happyness now.
thank you so much for taking him on.
karen
VOKRA

maria

can u post a pic? carol did u get his records from highpointt along with his blood panels?

Kim

I saw Brutus today. I just stood outside his crate and talked quietly to him for a minute, waiting to see his response. That scruffy, thin old cat came right up and allowed me to pet him. I could see he felt very comfy and safe. Then he began to eat his kibble. What a delightful sight, when we know where he has surfaced from, and all the hardship he's endured. A great rescue.

maria

Carol, Thankyou so much for taking Brutus under your wing,,it was so unfair he had to live outside all those years and now as an old grandpa his medical conditions must have made him suffer combined with the weather and outdoor elements he had a sad life. Nicole tells me he rubbed his head against her hand, and then she knew he wasnt feral anymore and she just couldnt return him to his existence outdoors. Whatever time old brutus has left in his life he has been waiting to come inside to a real home and now he has it.Thankyou carol and Saints for giving this old guy his wish,
Saints has given him a home

amy

I do that too Mo.. Read the Saints blog and then give my guys and extra cuddle and kiss.

My guys have much life left (I truly hope) and are much loved and cared for and they will be till the end of their days. Reading the saints blog only reinforces the fact that when you take in a family member they are there for life, through good and the bad.

They are Family. Enough said :)

Mo

My heart hurts reading this & thinking of the life Brutus has lived , if he truly has been on his own since 96, then he is exactly what SAINTS was built for .. built inside Carols heart & eventually on Duglosh Ave in Mission and then nurtured to fruition through Carol & staff & all the volunteers . I hate thinking about the lost souls out there, especially when the elements are extreme and the humans who perhaps at one time loved them or at least cared for them have forgotten about that soul who just didn't come home one night & they assumed he/she was taken by a predator or hit by a car or whatever & just moved on.
Welcome Brutus & I hope there is enough heart left in you to manage this change & come to love the attention,regular food, soft hands & voices and most of all and at the very least, a soft/safe warm spot to rest the old bones.

I am giving all my guys an extra hug & kiss tonight and will say a silent prayer for all the other ones left out there .

emma

The name Brutus may have been bad news for him but it took him into his senior years. You have to turn it around to the fact that there is some strength in that name. Welcome to SAINTS old boy.

Kim

Poor guy. He has had a hard life long enough. Now he can rest his head. I am so glad you took him in, Carol.

lynne

poor little guy, i hope he has some happiness now and comfort. i was delivering the mail today and saw this horribly skinny to the point of emaciated cat with hair falling out sitting on a proch. i knocked on the door and this lady came to the door. i asked her if it was her cat or a stray as it looked so unhappy and unhealthy. she said it was hers and he looked that way because he was 19. i was thinking about all your old cats and how they did not look like she took the cat in and i just walked away shaking my head. sad. great open house, what a terrific weekend. glad the weather cooperated. had a great time.

Mauro Salles

An old, sick and "lost" cat is now safe e can relax. Water, food, medical care and a good life. Is there anything better?

If you are going to change his name (Brutus was bad news), I suggest you use a roman emperor's name, except Caligula and Nero.

Tammy

Looking forward to meeting Brutus. Glad he found his way to SAINTS he can rest now, his struggle is over.