by Emily.
This is a picture of my stray cat, nicknamed “Scabby Cat”, taken about a year ago when I used to feed her regularly.
She’s a very old and street hardened stray who’s been hanging around for a couple of years now.
I hadn’t seen her since I moved to Edinburgh for uni and couldn’t find her at Christmas break so assumed she’d passed away over winter, until yesterday.
Yesterday on our walk I spotted a little black cat lying on the concrete near her usual stomping ground, I was so excited to see she was still alive and went over immediately to pet her.
As soon as I started to approach I knew something was wrong, she would usually come running up to me, ready for some much needed food and attention, but yesterday, she just lay there. When I reached her I barely recognised her. She was a quarter of the weight you see in the picture above (and she was already very thin), she was covered in scabs and barely able to move. I could also feel a lump under her left shoulder.
In a moment of pure instinct I scooped her up and cradled her, telling my sister to run home and tell our mum to get the cat carrier ready. I didn’t know how she would react to being picked up but I didn’t care if I was scratched or bitten. As soon as I lifted her I noticed just how thin she was, I’ve never held a cat so frail and boney in my life, I could feel every single bone and joint in her body.
I barely remember what happened next because I was running on pure adrenaline. We got her in the cat box, fed her and took her to the vet as an emergency appointment. To my utter disgust the vet told me she was microchipped and had an owner…although they haven’t been able to reach them yet. She was in such awful shape that the vets office took her away immediately.
I’m not sure what happens next, if they can’t reach the owner then maybe she’ll be moved to a shelter or possibly even put down. Either way, I’m still in shock from the whole ordeal.
To make things worse, our car broke down outside the vets and we had to call the AA and be towed home.
Animal abuse makes me unbelievably angry so I’m majorly shaken up.
Mainly Witterings 