Volunteers Called Out to Injured Cat

On Wednesday evening CatCuddles’ volunteers were called out on an urgent rescue that is a perfect illustration of why the charity is so needed in the borough of Greenwich.

The rescue involved a visibly injured cat that had been spotted by numerous local people on Quilter Street, Plumstead, SE18. The cat appeared to have a serious wound on his face that had stained both his fur and the street with blood.

Some local residents had attempted to capture the cat but he was wary and evasive, and they feared scaring him off completely. Four volunteers joined these locals on the scene within the hour and quickly got the cat into a carrier, where he was rushed to Vets Now Thamesmead, the nearest out-of-hours vet whose staff were most helpful.

Though we had been initially concerned that the cat was the victim of the London Cat Killer or a snare trap – as one of these was recently found in the area – veterinary examination revealed that he had a burst abscess. The abscess had formed as a result of an infected bite, as the cat had numerous scratches and bites all over his body.

The cat was unneutered which makes such injuries inevitable. Unneutered toms will always fight over territory and in addition to causing serious wounds, infections and abscesses, this can also often lead to contraction of FIV. This is just one of the many reasons that neutering – which is available for free for many cat owners - is so important.

One of the volunteers involved in the rescue fostered the cat for the night, and in the morning he was taken to a CatCuddles’ collaborating vet where he was neutered, tested for FIV, cleaned up and given long lasting antibiotics and pain killers, at the charity’s expense.

By then the cat’s owner had been identified and she was reunited with her cat, who had been missing for two days, and given firm advice on how to avoid similar situations in future. As he is now neutered, he should no longer wander far from home in search of a mate, or suffer any attacks from rival Tom cats, sparing him a huge amount of suffering in future. The owner was unable to reimburse CatCuddles for costs due to financial difficulties.