Spalding, a cat being treated at the Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue, has seen better days.
He might have died or been euthanized, but animal advocates across northern Wyoming are doing whatever they can to ensure he survives, recovers, and finds a loving home again.
Rachel Kristiansen, executive director of Second Chance Sheridan, said Spalding saved himself when he walked into a Gillette home via the dog door. He was taken to the Gillette Animal Shelter where his gentle nature gave him a chance.
“Gillette called us and said, ‘The staff is begging us not to put him down and give him a chance. He’s a really sweet cat and we want to give him a shot.’ He came to us Saturday morning, and he’s been purring ever since.”
Guarded Prognosis
When Spalding arrived in Sheridan, he was battling hypothermia and an enormous, partially necrotic abscess on his face. His age cannot be determined as all his teeth are broken, and his eyes were highly sunken from dehydration.
“His body temperature that morning was 93 degrees,” Kristiansen said. “We put him in our incubator and got him warmed up. He’s eating and purring and being a really sweet boy.”
Kathy Ilgen with M4 Ranch Home Veterinary Service is spearheading Spalding's care. Since arriving in Sheridan, he has received “lots of heavy-duty antibiotics,” but they are holding off on addressing his abscess until he is stronger.
“I’d say he’s had that abscess for about two weeks,” Ilgen told Cowboy State Daily. “I wanted to give him more time to stabilize, because the healthy tissue is definitely painful. The dead, black tissue isn’t painful, but it’s spread to the point where his jugular vein is exposed.”
Cats can be surprisingly resilient after sustaining severe injuries. Spalding was lucky to survive long enough to seek out and receive medical treatment.
“Most cases don’t get to this point of severity (and survive),” Ilgen said. “He was looking into the light, so to speak.”
Kristiansen said everyone at Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue is doting on Spalding while recognizing the uphill battle ahead of him.
“It’s still a very guarded prognosis,” she said. “I’ve seen cats pull through some pretty bad injuries, and I think we’ll be able to pull him through, but I can’t make promises. We’re cautiously optimistic.”
Cat Scratch Fever
The source of Spalding's injury is no mystery. Ilgen said the cat took one on the chin in a cat fight and could not treat the injury given its location.
“Cats have a specific bacterium under their claws that cause little infections,” she said. “Getting scratched by a cat is like injecting bacteria under the skin, and then that bacteria have a wonderful place to live, grow, and turn into that huge disaster he’s dealing with.”
Cats treat their injuries by licking them with their rough tongues, keeping them open so their bodies can fight the infection. Spalding couldn’t reach his injury with his tongue, which allowed the wound to close and the infection to fester and grow.
Also, Spalding hasn’t been neutered. That was probably a contributing factor to his life-threatening injury.
“An unneutered or unfixed cat is going to be much more likely to get into fights over territory and mates,” Kristiansen said. “I always recommend that anyone with an indoor-outdoor cat have them fixed, because it keeps them safe and prevents overpopulation.”
Ilgen said this is the season where outdoor cats get more aggressive with each other. Getting cats spayed or neutered prevents them from seeking out fights.
“This is the time of year where the intact start deciding that they want to be boss man,” she said. “So, they run around fighting in the spring to chase off other males until the females go into heat. That’s really what's happening here.”
Donation And Adoption
Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue has set up a donation fund to help pay for Spalding's medical expenses. As of Tuesday, Kristiansen said they’ve raised over $1,500 to help him recover from his extreme injury.
“The antibiotics aren’t that expensive, but we’ll probably have to lightly sedate him multiple times to flush that wound,” she said. “That’s going to be a lot of vet visits, pain medication, and all that kind of stuff.”
Ilgen is optimistic that Spalding can pull through. He arrived in Sheridan determined to survive, and has been doing everything he can to get himself healthy enough for the procedures ahead.
“I’m hoping that he’ll be ready for adoption after a month or six weeks,” she said. “Everybody’s a little different, so we’ll have to see how he progresses. I think he’ll come around with enough treatment and time.”
While there’s been an outpouring of support for Spalding, Kristiansen said she hasn’t received any serious inquiries about adoption. Most people who inquire about the cat or donate toward his treatment have said they want to follow his journey, with a possible interest in adoption once he’s well.
Kristiansen also hasn’t ruled out that a family is looking for their lost cat. Spalding has all the signs of being stray rather than feral.
“He’s definitely been loved,” she said. “He’s very friendly and loves people but doesn’t have a home as far as we know. Since he’s unneutered and has so many broken teeth, it tells us he’s probably been on his own for a while.”
Steps Toward Salvation
Spalding is an excellent example of the ongoing dynamic between the Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue and the Gillette Animal Shelter. Kristiansen said the two organizations work together to ensure every animal gets a second chance.
“We have an excellent working relationship with the Gillette shelter, because we’re trying to help Gillette become a no-kill shelter like we are,” she said.
Both shelters are network partners with the Best Friends Animal Society, a non-profit based in Kanab, Utah, that helps save animals in dire circumstances. They provided some of the funds necessary to get Spalding from Gillette to Sheridan so he could get the second chance he sought.
If he continues to recover, Kristiansen believes Spalding will look like a new cat once he’s fully recovered.
“You'd be surprised how well cats heal,” she said. “His face issue will cause him pain for a while, but once it is completely healed, I think he will be like any regular cat. Five years down the line, I think someone will see him and never know that this happened to him. We just have to get him there, and I’m cautiously optimistic that we can.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
