Guest Blogger: Diary of a Cat Rescuer

  Rosa - Photos by David Kirk

By Leigh Kirk*

Rescue never sleeps. At any given moment, everywhere in our communities, animals’ lives are in jeopardy either in our shelters or on our streets. And it’s always the rescue calls that come in at off hours —7:30 a.m., late at night, a Sunday — that are the most dire.

When you get involved in rescue, it kind of feels like an infinite black hole that sucks you deeper and farther from “normal” life as you know it. It’s really hard to get a day off.

One particular Sunday a couple of months ago, we decided to try and catch a break and not answer the phone. We deserve one day off, right?  At 10:30a.m. the phone rang. I think we were making vegan waffles.  Two hours later, we broke down and listened to the voicemail from a stranger named Rosa.  So much for a Sunday off.

I called Rosa back. In response to a Facebook plea for help, she had just driven 20 miles to pick up a beautiful young orange female cat with her front leg almost severed. A car accident was suspected.  She had since been sighted for two weeks living in this condition on the streets while caring for her kittens. 

My phone chimed. Pictures of this beautiful orange cat with her broken leg arrived by text. As bad as they were, they didn’t quite prepare me for the grizzly sight that greeted us when we met Rosa. We had arranged to meet at our only emergency clinic open on a Sunday. The photos we took at the emergency hospital proved even too graphic to post on our fundraising page for this kitty’s medical expenses. Her front left leg was almost completely severed and the tissue on the lower half of the leg had died during her time on the street.

We learned further that this very sweet and brave kitty had been abandoned in this state by her owner who had moved across town.

We had no choice but to sign up for a night of expensive hospitalization and triage.  It’s always nerve-wracking not knowing where the funds will come from for what could be an expensive medical rescue.  Thanks to the work and commitment of an active volunteer and the strength of her community network, we rallied support to help cover her bills.

The next day we transported her, leg bandaged, to our regular rescue vet. Thank God they generously support the work we do with deep discounts, allowing us to rescue as many animals as the money will stretch to cover. She promptly received the leg amputation she needed to survive. There was no other option. Her recovery was nothing short of miraculous. Seeing resilience and zest for life in the face of this trauma was a true inspiration.

We needed to name her, this was no longer just another cat off the streets.  Orange female cats are unusual – most are male. We wanted a strong female name for her, this orange mother, who cared for her three identical orange boy kittens under those challenging conditions. After some mulling, we decided upon Rosa, the name of the compassionate woman who drove 20 miles to rescue her in response to a Facebook post from a stranger. And we were drawn to the legacy of Rosa Parks, another strong female figure who fought in the face of adversity.

As dark as animal rescue can be, an almost constant dragging on the soul, there are also the moments of light; the people who give, the animals who survive and live lives filled with love, and the community members who choose to rally and give their support for homeless and vulnerable animal in need.

I went back to the apartment complex to find (the cat) Rosa’s kittens.  Rosa (the street rescuer) had asked the kids who lived there to catch them. I arrived after dark to find two of the three kittens in an old white birdcage and the third sibling hanging close to his two jailed siblings. Oh no, I couldn't leave one kitten behind! Saying a prayer, I set a spare humane cat trap that I had in the car.  Little did I realize how much the kittens were starving, so less than a few minutes later, I had the third loose baby in the trap. Off we drove into a much needed sunset. Rosa and her three boy kittens, all orange like her, never looked back. 

Less than three months later, all have been adopted into loving homes, with two of the boys going as a pair, and Rosa flying home to Canada with her new parents. A family of five adopted children await her, a family who understands what it is like to overcome adversity and to find a loving family.

Rosa's kitties (By David Kirk)

* Our guest blogger Leigh Kirk is the president of Forever Meow , dedicated to rescue and save feral and abandoned cats. To read more about Rosa, go to Rosa's Rescue Facebook page.