One particular mid-December evening, as we were sitting in one of the tavernas, a local man informed us about a cat that he'd seen that appeared to have a problem with its legs.  He told us he had seen it somewhere along the Mandrakia side of Ermioni.  So, effectively as tomorrow arrived, I knew we were on a 'mission' to find a cat with leg problems.  We didn’t really know where to start looking, but luckily we came across a lady who happened to know about this particular stray cat and was able to show us its sleeping place.  It was horrendous!  It was down the side of a cafe where most of the rubbish was dumped, in a makeshift cardboard box of some sort, laid amongst dirt and filth which smelled horribly.  But upon searching that particular morning, the cat was nowhere to be seen.  Over the next two days, we visited the area and searched.  Still, we couldn’t find this cat.  

On the third morning, the cat was found!  Oh, how awful this cat looked.  It was initially curled up inside this cardboard box, which was filthy, full of debris and old fish bones.  The poor thing was a tabby long haired cat, with a white triangle patch on its chest.  The cat 'stank' and looked distressed.  The pain went straight through my heart.  How was I going to pick it up?  We had a cage ready and as I approached, the cat scampered away in freight.  We were told the cat had problems with its legs, but it was far worse than that.  The cat had no movement in its back legs at all.  Its back end was being dragged along using the front legs only, but it certainly could move!  Once it pulled itself to the roadside, I was able to grab it and quickly put it into the cage. We didn’t know whether it was a male or female, but I remember that it just smelled horrible.

We brought the cat home and tried to nurse it, but it was in a great deal of pain.  An appointment was made to see our local vet in Kranidi.  Once we got there, the vet examined the cat and began by cutting a hole in the fur at its back end, because he thought it might be blocked and had been infected with ticks.  All the time, I had to hold the cat tightly by the scruff of its neck, whilst the vet carried out this procedure of cutting the anus hole and then applying some stitches.  There were times during this procedure when the cat became really aggressive and started to fight, so I put the cat quickly back into the cage.  I was bitten, scratched and cut badly by the poor cat.  The cat couldn’t stand up, had no movement and appeared to have some sort of spinal injury, yet the vet was making the cats anal hole bigger, and that was without sedation.  Upon leaving the vet, we were given medication for the cat and told that the cat would never walk again.

The next few days were very difficult as she wasn’t getting any better.  With this, we returned with her to the vet and feared the worse, but luckily for TWINKLE, we noticed some sort of wound on the top of her spine.  We were ushered into a consulting room and I was holding TWINKLE very tightly as the wound on her spine was cleaned.  It was full of horrible green smelly puss.  What caused this injury?  Once completed and cleaned, we took her home and put her in a comfortable warm place.  She had to survive this trauma, for it wasn't just her serious injuries, it was also that she was now in a completly new and different environment.  Even with being in so much pain, she did allow us to pick her up and cuddle her.  She was gorgeous and we knew that if she survived, she would develop into a nice loving pussy cat.

 

Over time, as she improved and recovered, there was a change in her temperament.  She became scared, hid from us and there were times when we couldn't find her, yet as time passed by, we noticed that she was beginning to walk again, using all four legs.  Once she had self-healed and recovered the use of her back legs, we had her neutered and she stayed with us in our home.  To look at her now, one would never believe that the bewraggled cat we rescued in December 2013 is the same TWINKLE we have at home today, jumping and climbing around.  After all these years, she still doesn’t like to be picked up, but she does like to be stroked.  Had we listened to the vets advice, there wouldn't have been a story to tell, as she would have been taken over the Rainbow Bridge.

‘Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are’.  Well, now we know . . . this little star is safe at home with us.

 

Donations are hugely needed for GreekSTRAYS

Account name & bank: GreekSTRAYS - Lloyds Bank   Sort Code: 30-65-22    Account Number: 78074260

PayPal: elaine1156@gmail.com

Picture Gallery