WE CAUGHT LURCHIE!
Sharon Talbert
(Friends of Campus Cats Newsbite)
Who is Lurchie, you might ask?
Lurchie is a long-time resident feral cat on Univ Washington campus who
was born with no back feet. She was captured and spayed as a young cat
and returned at my vet's recommendation (and to my unending regret). She
has survived these five years or so, staying close to the dense cover of
the shrubbery and living for the most part in the shelter/feeder provided
for her colony, which we kept supplied with straw to help keep her stumps
warm. She loved the feeding station, which is a nicely roofed and sited
structure along a campus walkway. She made many friends of campus as she
peeped smiling out of "her" feeding station at passersby. A few weeks
ago, however, Lurchie began limping as well as lurching, moving painfully
on two legs and one stump. Her hips were also very distorted looking, a
condition that had been developing over time. She was in trouble. She
was also trap-wise and never moved more than a few feet from cover when
she was outside her feeding station "home" and so was very unlikely to be
netted. We were afraid we were going to lose her.
Some thought and a stalwart volunteer got the feeding station fitted up as
a trap. We did this knowing that Lurchie, once caught in this way, could
never come back to her campus home. She would have to be retired from the
field and join the Under-the-Bed-Gang in my home. It took all week, but
she was caught quite by chance last night and is now at the vet's. She
will be given the full treatment -- nothing too good for our Lurchie.
With luck, she will be deemed healthy enough to come home with me by
Easter. Getting her to the vet's was quite a sight, myself and the vet (a
small woman) hauling this dog house-like structure into the clinic so
Lurchie could be safely released into a squeeze cage for examination.
Lurchie was her sweet self, seeking only to escape. She is not an
aggressive cat and will adjust to being a housecat over time and will make
close friends, I'm sure. She and Tipsy (our cerebellar hypoplasia cat)
will make quite a pair!
Thanks, Matt, for all you do! We couldn't have saved Lurchie without you!
Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
Lynne Motley
Bravo Sharon, Lurchie, and Matt!!!!!!!!!! What a happy story. Big
wishes for Lurchie's easy recovery and new life with you.
Lynne
John & Melinda Sheridan
Sharon Talbert wrote:
Snipped for server.
> Some thought and a stalwart volunteer got the feeding station fitted up as
> a trap. We did this knowing that Lurchie, once caught in this way, could
> never come back to her campus home. She would have to be retired from the
> field and join the Under-the-Bed-Gang in my home. It took all week, but
> she was caught quite by chance last night and is now at the vet's. She
> will be given the full treatment -- nothing too good for our Lurchie.
> With luck, she will be deemed healthy enough to come home with me by
> Easter. Getting her to the vet's was quite a sight, myself and the vet (a
> small woman) hauling this dog house-like structure into the clinic so
> Lurchie could be safely released into a squeeze cage for examination.
> Lurchie was her sweet self, seeking only to escape. She is not an
> aggressive cat and will adjust to being a housecat over time and will make
> close friends, I'm sure. She and Tipsy (our cerebellar hypoplasia cat)
> will make quite a pair!
>
> Thanks, Matt, for all you do! We couldn't have saved Lurchie without you!
>
> Sharon Talbert
> Friends of Campus Cats
I'm so happy to hear that you caught Lurchie. She and Tipsy should look
quite the sight. Hopefully they'll lurch and tip so as to support each
other. :-) Good luck with the up-coming adjustments in the household.
Keep up the good work. -Melinda
Sharon Talbert
> > With luck, she will be deemed healthy enough to come home with me by
> > Easter. Getting her to the vet's was quite a sight, myself and the vet (a
> > small woman) hauling this dog house-like structure into the clinic so
> > Lurchie could be safely released into a squeeze cage for examination.
> > Lurchie was her sweet self, seeking only to escape. She is not an
> > aggressive cat and will adjust to being a housecat over time and will make
> > close friends, I'm sure. She and Tipsy (our cerebellar hypoplasia cat)
> > will make quite a pair!
> >
>
> quite the sight. Hopefully they'll lurch and tip so as to support each
> other. :-) Good luck with the up-coming adjustments in the household.
> Keep up the good work. -Melinda
>
>
Unfortunately, Tipsy will probably ambush poor Lurchie the way she does
all the other cats, pouncing brokenly from ambush, and chasing on the
diagonal across the living room before she slides to a stop. What a
little monster she is. We love her, though -- somebody's gotta do it.
Lurchie will be rather like having a tabby bunny rabbit in the household,
thumpa, thumpa, thumpa. Just listening to her and then Tipsy making their
way around the house is going to be interesting. I can hardly wait.