EWN 23/09: Smokey Boy’ Story
This is my article published in the Euro Weekly News on Thursday, about one very special rescue cat.
Last week I wrote about how really caring some of the German adoptants are , when they chose not always the most beautiful cats, but sometimes character cats, and even disabled cats. Smokey boy is one of those cases, and one of our most special rescues. He IS actually beautiful in character and is a very handsome dark tabby grey, but his time here in Spain has left him with some permanent problems.
We first met him in 2008 as a 2 year old, when he was found limping around the port with 4 badly injured paws, and taken in by Jean and George. Our vet had never seen anything like it and thought he must have stepped into something corosive. We believe he was abandoned as he looks nothing like our thin faced Spanish street cats, and when found he was also thin and distressed. Amazingly his paws healed well and his next home was the local cat rescue. Here he would be got ready for re-homing in Germany, as at the time I was not doing this myself.
Unfortunately things went very wrong there. The rescue owner was hospitalized for a month, there were too many cats, and overall it was a very bad summer. Smokey Boy was one of those who suffered. He reacted very badly to a flea collar, developed epilepsy, then contracted Bartonella from fleas and almost died.
I in desperation took him out of the rescue. He was skeletal and by this time had a partially paralysed leg from a very bad bite. Pam fostered him here and gave him lots of good food and love, and with our vet’s help, we brought him back to good health, but his leg injury is permanent. Smokey’s story ended our ongoing relationship with that cat rescue, and was part of the inspiration for the work I do now. We will never have another case like his.
Smokey’s story did however end well. This beautiful, gentle boy found his forever home in Germany with a bunch of snuggle cats, and a lovely Mum. His epilepsy is stabalised, and he manages very well will his small disability. After such a traumatic year this is one cat who really deserved his happy ending. I wish this gorgeous boy well for the rest of his life.
Smokey Boy & Friend
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