Meet Mackie

Did you catch it?  Embedded in the text of Monday’s post?

Let me start this way.  What do you do when you can’t say no?

OK, so here’s the way this went.  At the shelter where the girls work there is a new part-time employee.  She happens to be quite a worker and my daughters are happy to have her.  I’m not bragging, it’s just the truth – my daughters are hard workers.  There is SO much to be done each and every day; having another person on board who actually works and gets things accomplished is appreciated by each of my girls.

Now shifting gears, do any of you happen to remember me talking about a little town between where I live and the town where the shelter is?  I’ve written about this town (and another very similar town in the other direction) where cats line the alleyways and spill off of every porch.  After dark, they seem to materialize out of thin air.  Driving through this town on a warm summer night will keep you counting into the dozens – and those are just the ones you actually see.

Well, New Employee lives in this very town.  Whereas once upon a time we could take the small country bypass around this town so as not to have to SEE all of the cats we couldn’t save, now it is impossible not to hear about them.  There is nothing I can do about it.  There is nothing my daughters and their shelter can do about it.  There are so many stray cats in this town that a huge shelter would be needed just for this town’s cats alone.  And of course, many are feral.  That’s where today’s story begins.

New Employee (whose name is B- ) has talked about all of the cats on numerous occasions.  But recently she started talking about a black tom cat who was pencil thin and had a deformed or damaged ear.  She hadn’t been close enough to investigate, but the poor old guy looked rough – much worse than the other strays she saw on a daily basis (and none of them look great!).  Of course, there’s no room at the inn . . .                I sound like a broken record, but the truth is the truth.  My shelter had been four over max, and even with the adoption of Truly and Shiloh I am still two over.  The girls’ shelter STAYS full; they continuously try to reduce their numbers – there is only so much room and there are only so many donated dollars to do the job. 

So B and my daughters and I discussed getting this old black tom neutered so that at least he might stop fighting.  He was too old and too thin to keep living that lifestyle (not to mention that he is also one more male contributing to overpopulation).  B would try to lure him to her home and trap him.  But she was pretty sure he was feral which meant he wouldn’t be an easy take.  In fact, even if she could get him and even if the shelter DID have room (which they don’t), a feral tom who has spent his entire life outdoors would beat himself to death in a shelter cage.

One evening, B contacted the girls.  I’ve got him.  Can one of you come pick him up and take him to your mom’s so he can be taken for neuter?  By the time my daughters got there, B was already saying that she wasn’t sure just how “feral” this guy really was.  Back here at my kennel, I had a cage set up.  I would take him for neuter and then we would release him near B’s home.  She would leave food out for him.  The girls delivered him to his cage late that night, and I did not meet him until the next morning.

I was anxious to see this beat-up tom but knew I would feel bad for him.  However, nothing could have prepared me for how thin he was.  When I walked in, he meowed at me (a deep scratchy meow) and stood up on his bed in the cage.  I actually sucked my breath in when I saw his skinniness.  Assuming he was feral, I knew I couldn’t examine him.   As I approached his cage, he hissed.  But then I realized he was hissing because Quinn had walked over to the cage with me.  I was careful as I loaded him into a carrier for the trip to the vet, but he displayed none of the behaviors of a feral cat.  When I delivered him to the clinic, I explained to office manager T that this one just might be in too bad of shape to withstand surgery.  This guy even had Anastasia beat out for lack of body mass.

They did the surgery and I picked him up that afternoon.  I told my daughters that I would keep him for a few days before we released him.  I was becoming a crazy person thinking about releasing such an emaciated cat to stray around outdoors and return to his life of trying to fend for himself.  I would try to fatten him up a bit first.

I have gotten to know Mack over the last few days.  He is a senior.  He is bone thin.  He is starving and loves canned food more than life itself.  He has one ear that was apparently injured at some point and is permanently folded forward.  He has scars in various places, the two biggest ones on the top of his head and down the side of one leg.    If he had been feral, he would have fared better being released than being caged.  But these days that Mackie has been with me, he has purred his heart out, begged to be petted, rubbed on my legs, and followed me back and forth.  And food – he purrs the whole time he is eating.  I actually shed tears at the thought of releasing this guy back into the horrible life that has been his all of these many years.

So Friends – I went from four over my maximum number, down to two over max when Truly and Shiloh were adopted.  Technically I needed three more adoptions before I could take in another needy little soul.  But I cannot release an emaciated senior cat back to a life of struggle and straying.  I will have to go on faith that more adoptions will come.  Mackie is now a Winnie’s Wisher.

Meet Mackie.

 

 

Have a great weekend.  See you next week.

 

Comments

[Cassandra]

Oh he's lovely. I hope he gets nice and fat soon and that the perfect person comes along for him. :)

[Random Felines]

glad he had someone looking out for him....

[Celeste]

I love him! He is so handsome, and I bet he will be even more so when he fills out!

[Liz]

I know it's impossible to rescue all, but rescuing Mackie can certainly make all of you feel like your efforts every day are worth while. I'm sure he'll be "fattened" up very soon.

[The Poupounette]

Hey Mackie! You are such a handsome boy with the most beautiful green eyes! We're so glad you're in Chrystal's care now, where we know you wlil be loved and able to eat your heart out.

[Andrea and the Celestial Kitties]

Oh my gosh! He looks so much like my Calvin from yesterday's post! (minus the ear, scars and skinny!) What a lover! You were right to take him in, he needs a home! Not just a rescue, but a full fledged home with people of his own! We have to find him a family, people! And soon! He may be older, but he has lots of love in him to give! Who do you know that has an older relative who needs a kitty to love and feed and fatten up?? Or a young person, lol

[ginny & The Fur Family]

YOU ALL DID a great thing when you caught and neutered Mackie. I know that town and he might have started out life as a pet and some one just threw him away when they moved.B-thanks for trapping him. Why don't you make him a permanent resident at the kennel? Every one needs more black cats. love those eyes. Ginny & The Fur Family

[John bellen]

The poor guy. I would take him if I could. He's the sort I would adopt: older, until now unloved, in need of a home for whatever years he has left. It's no wonder he purrs while eating. Who know how long he's had to scavenge food, fight for it, go without it. To have food, dry, warm shelter and affection given to him for free must feel like Heaven to him. I would have kept him, too, if I were you.

[Cat's Cats]

Oh my gosh he is fabulous...that ear, those soulful eyes!!!! Chrystal I am so glad you took him in, despite capacity issues, he needs you so much. Did the vet have any idea how old he is? We love you already Mackie!!!!

[Lee County Clowder]

Hey, it's Mack the Knife. Mackie, you lucked out, and we suspect you know it.

Kittie, you just hang out and fatten up for a while.

[Maria in CT]

Well Chrystal, you have done it again...brought me to tears with one of your posts. Mackie looks so much like my Carter who went to the bridge several years ago. I am such a sucker for black cats! This reminds me of the old saying in rescue "Saving one animal won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal." Surely you have changed the world for Mackie, Chrystal, and I truly believe that you have a direct pathway to heaven because of the wonderful work you do day in and day out. May God bless you!

[Sandy]

Wow, Mack is amazing. Chrystal, thanks so much for making him a Winnie's wisher. Mack is clearly very grateful. I'm hoping that his story and his demeanor get him adopted very soon!

[GD]

He is actually VERY cute with those gorgeous green eyes and folded ear! Lots of character. I have a feeling that he may get snatched up!!