Rescue Journal

SAINTS apologises to Suzie

Alison  ·  Sep. 6, 2006

Suzie had the very worst possible introduction to SAINTS. She was left in her carrier by our front door, 2 feet away from a fence full of barking and excited dogs. By the time i got home (I was only gone for half an hour) she was terrified. I did not have a place ready for her because I was not expecting her, so I put her crate on the bed, where she was further frightened by several cats peering in at her. I quickly bleached out and set up the bathroom and moved her in and opened the door to her crate,. Eight hours later, she is still hiding in her crate, and her face is buried into her towel. Introductions to SAINTS are very important, we do everything we can to ensure that our new animals arrival is as peaceful, and gentle as possible. We spend alot of time preparing and planning on how to manage the transition to reduce the amount of anxiety. We already know who is going into what area and how they are to be managed before their arrival and we have the supplies and equipment set up and on hand that they need to smooth the transition. Suzie did not get that, she got dumped, plain and simple, right into the middle of the fire. It has taken me years to learn how to introduce new cats into a shelter environment and not risk losing them from severe stress. Stressed cats stop eating, they can very quickly develop fatty liver syndrome and can die. Once that starts the only solution to bringing them thru requires aggressive force feedings and sometimes even tube feedings. None of it is fun for the cat. Planning and managing a smooth and compassionate transition can usually reduce this risk to nil. Suzie is going to be a nightmare because as far as she is concerned, she is in a nightmare and right now nothing can convince her otherwise. This could have been done so much better, and with so much more kindness if only a little notice had been given. Ahh Suzie Q, we are both in for a rough and scarey ride.

Comments

Carol

she is out of her carrier, eating a few kibbles but still very unhappy and stressed...she is a REALLY, REALLY nice cat! She reminds me of Julie...she is just as sweet and gentle and kind....i kind of get the potato-eds that end up here...but i just don't understand the Suzie's or Julie's.

Carol

yeah...lol...i was too mad to respond to the number on the note, but we needed some history on the poor cat, so i made leila do it cuz she can be nicer than me when i am mad...except she went and saw suzie in the bathroom and then she got upset too. hard not to get upset when you see how upset suzie is.

Leila

Believe me Jean, I let the person who dumped Suzie at SAINTS know that what she did was very unkind. I think she knew it and she will have to live with it for the rest of her life.

Poor Suzie - I'm sure you will come out of the nightmare.

Jean

I have never understood how someone can just dump an animal and show absolutely no concern for its welfare. I suppose they think they are showing concern by leaving it at a shelter rather than setting it loose in the bush somewhere, but all it would have taken was a phone call or two, a short wait, a little bit of inconvenience to really do what is right for the cat. It was a selfish, thoughtless person who left Suzie there. Whether it was the dumper's own cat or one he/she found, a few minutes of kindness could have made a lot of difference.
Welcome to Saints, Suze....you may think you are in a nightmare, but you are with a far better person than the one who dumped you off.