Our little heartbreak at the side of the road

On Sunday, as we were on our way home with our tree, we turned onto a back road which runs behind a lake. It is a popular place for people to dump garbage and so on because they are too lazy to dispose of it properly. As we were driving up the road, I saw a cat in the middle of the road, but it was still a good distance away, and I figured it was a barn cat and it would run off. Thankfully we were driving very slowly, as the weather was nasty and we didn't want to risk driving into the same ditch we almost did last week! As we approcahed this cat, it seemed like it was playing chicken with us! He was walking right to us, and was not going to move. He was an orange and white marmalade cat, and was quite large. We stopped the van and he walked up beside us. I was worried he was rabid, or sick. He was covered in ice and mud. Oh this is so hard to write this, it upset me so much. He was meowing pitifully. It was like he was begging us to help him. He picked the right person, as dh is very allergic to cats!!

Well, we started to drive away again, thinking he was likely a wild cat. As we pulled away, he started to follow us. Mike stopped the car, and got a big pair of gloves he had with him, and got out, figuring if he was wild, we would find out in a hurry! I got out the other side, ready to launch myself into the van if this cat was indeed wild. He walked right up to Mike, and Mike was able to pick him up. He snuggled in by Mike's feet and we had the heat turned up full blast to melt the ice which covered him. He smelled very, very bad, and was so hungry. By the look of the mud marks, he was thrown from a vehicle by someone who no longer wanted to be bothered with the responsibilites of pet ownership.

We got home, and put him in the cat carrier we have for our rabbit. He started purring on the way home and he was so loud! He went into the carrier, and we got some food from a neighbour who has cats. He devoured it, and then he drank an entire bowlful of water! We were all heartsick over how someone could be so cruel. His wee nose was covered in caked on mud. By this time, he was wet from the ice melting. We don't like our animal shelter here, but it is a no kill shelter, so we phoned. Shortly afterwards, the lady came to pick him up. There was stuff pouring out of his nose, he was in rough shape. But he was alive!

I called on Monday morning to check on him. He was in isolation, and doing okay. They estimate his age at 15!! Then they wanted to know if we wanted to adopt him, if he checked out okay. UGHH, there go those heartstrings again! With Mike's allergies, I don't think we could do it. And an older cat, all I can see are vet bills! Jeremy cried and cried after the lady took him away. The senseless cruelty of some people just really, really makes me angry!! When I came home from a craft show on Saturday I came down this same road, and I saw a truck pulled over and some people ran behind a small hill. I thought they were dumping garbage, or hiking or something, but maybe they were dropping off this cat. I want to go and get him and cuddle him up and love him. He may have to be put down, but I would rather have that than having him dying in a ditch somewhere with no one to love him. At least we were there to love him and care for him, if only for a briff while.

Here is a picture of him after we got him into the cat carrier. We only had one picture left on our camera, and luckily it turned out. I will post updates as I find out more. I really want this cat to come to our home, it was almost like he chose us, it was a very odd feeling.