When Spalding the cat walked into a Gillette home, hypothermic and with a massive abscess on his face, he was near death.
While his prospects for survival were slim, Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue wanted to give him a fighting chance.
Three months later, Spalding has more than beaten the odds; he’s completely healed and ready for a new home.
It’s a happy ending for a story that attracted national attention and warmed the hearts of everyone who encountered him.
"Spalding is completely healed and doing amazing," said Rachel Kristiansen, executive director of Second Chance Sheridan. "He's just the biggest sweetheart. He loves every person he meets, and everyone who meets him falls in love with him."
Help Me, Please
Kristiansen said Second Chance Sheridan gets "a lot of sad cases," but Spalding's story stands out. He's the cat that "saved himself."
"He went through some stranger's dog door and was just like, 'I need help.' I think that caught people's attention,” she said. “It's the big thing that people really seem to hold on to and like about him."
Spalding was initially taken to the Gillette Animal Shelter before being transferred to Second Chance Sheridan. The cat was in rough shape, but purred continuously from the moment he arrived at the shelter.
"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,'" Kristiansen said. "His body temperature was 93 degrees the morning we got him, and we put him in our incubator and got him warmed up."
The normal body temperature for a healthy cat is between 100.5 and 102.5 degrees.
Kathryn Ilgen with M4 Ranch Home Veterinary Service gave Spalding "a very guarded prognosis" at the time.
She'd seen cats survive incredibly gnarly injuries, but Spalding was at a point where he could go either way. The giant abscess had burst and looked like something had been gnawing on the side of his head.
"Most cases don't get to this point of severity (and survive)," Ilgen told Cowboy State Daily in March. "I've seen cats pull through some pretty bad injuries, so we're cautiously optimistic, but I can't make any promises. He was looking into the light, so to speak."
Cat Scratch Fever
As soon as Spalding arrived at Second Chance Sheridan, he was put on "very heavy antibiotics" to treat his infected wounds. Kristiansen described it as a long and difficult process.
"He had a huge infection that built up under his cheek," she said. "The abscess got so big that by the time it burst, it took half of his face with it, all because he went so long without treatment."
The infection was probably the result of a bite or scratch from another cat. Ilgen said these injuries and infections are a common result of catfights.
"Cats have a specific bacterium under their claws that causes 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 a huge disaster."
Spalding's caretakers had to wait for the necrotic tissue on his face to "slough off" before they could attempt to close the wound.
It left a gaping hole on the side of his face that needed to be kept open so it could be treated.
"There wasn't enough tissue to stitch back together," Kristiansen said. "We had to leave it open, keep medicating it, and wait for that skin to start to regrow and stitch itself back together on its own.
“It took a couple of weeks before we had enough skin where the doctor could do some loose sutures to pull that cheek together."
After another couple of weeks, Spalding's skin had healed enough to be fully sutured. It was another month before his fur started growing over the permanent crook in his cheek.
"He will always have a little bit of a crooked face because of it," Kristiansen said. "I think it makes him look really endearing and very precious."
Seeing Spalding's Story
When photos of Spalding were posted on Second Chance Sheridan's social media, there was an immediate wave of sympathy for the courageous cat.
Kristiansen shared regular updates on his recovery while asking for donations to cover his medical expenses.
After Cowboy State Daily covered Spalding's story, the donations came pouring in.
"We got so many envelopes in the mail saying, 'I saw Spalding's story in the Cowboy State Daily, and I wanted to send him a donation.' We even got donations from people from the East Coast,” she said.
Through several sources, Second Chance Rescue raised more than $10,000 — more than enough to cover the intense medical treatment he needed, with some left over to help other cats at the shelter.
Kristiansen said Spalding has stolen the hearts of everyone who's interacted with him.
Despite the intense amount of pain and suffering he endured on the road to recovery, he continuously shows his gratitude.
"He never argued with us or anything," she said. "You could tell that he knew we were trying to help him, so he took all his treatments and was purring the whole time. He was just such a sweet little patient."
A Lap And Love All Day
Three months after arriving at Second Chance Sheridan, Spalding is almost unrecognizable. He's cleaned up quite nicely, and now it's time for him to find "the perfect home,” Kristiansen said.
Second Chance Sheridan is a free-roaming facility, which means the cats coexist in an open, homey space.
Three months is a long time to observe a cat's temperament, which is why Kristiansen will rigorously screen applicants to find the best home for Spalding.
"He is coexisting nicely with the other cats, but he had a rough start," she said. "He was really scared of the other cats when he first came out, which is understandable, as the last cat he met tore half his face off."
A family with small children visited Spalding hoping to adopt him, but it was not the best fit. Kristiansen said Spalding is "overwhelmed" by the energy of small children, something most families can relate to.
"We're thinking he'll do best in a quiet home," she said. "An older family, or maybe a family with teenagers. Something more low-key because he just wants to sit on a lap and be loved all day."
Spalding will do best as an exclusively indoor cat, as he's had enough of the outdoors to last the rest of his lifetime — and there's a lot of life left in him.
Kristiansen said he's only around 2 years old, so he'll bring many years of warmth and love to the perfect people.
"We haven't had anyone explicitly apply for him yet, so we're putting the word out that he's ready for adoption, and we're looking for the perfect family for him."
Spalding's Second Chance
Since they started sharing Spalding's story, the Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue has "blown up" on social media.
Kristiansen said their Facebook has grown by over 2,000 followers since Spalding arrived.
They're using the increased visibility to share their mission of rescuing and rehabilitating special-needs cats and assisting people with their pets as they struggle with difficult life situations.
Spalding will soon find his forever home, but his story will endure for years to come.
"His story resonated with people," Kristiansen said. "More people know about us, and we've got a lot of new donors since we took him in. He really caught people's attention. He has a great story, and I'm happy for him."
Nobody can say how many of Spalding's nine lives he had to use to survive his ordeal, but all that matters is he got a second chance at life. Now, he has a second chance at a better home for the rest of his life.
"Everyone has been waiting for us to officially announce when he's ready for adoption, and now he's available to the perfect family," Kristiansen said.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
