The Cat That Couldn't Stay......

Based on truth and what happened here a couple of days ago.

Part one

Stan brought his photo home. I was in love.....An orange cat with a bright pink nose who had special needs and was up for adoption.
He reminded me of Crusher, the cat that disappeared here in July, so i was immediately smitten......

"Yes, let's go meet him, ".....I said......

We set up an appointment for that night when his basic keeper would be there to meet us and talk to us.

This cat, that was named Arnold,and was between 1-2 years old.... had been living in the animal hospital for the last 3 months. A good samaritan had brought him in there, after finding him on the side of the road near here.... with two broken back legs and a broken tail from being hit by a car, the the doctors at the hospital put him back together and were taking care of him, and it was time for him to be adopted out. He had also been declawed, the worst possible thing you can do to a cat. I was angry, thinking...why would someone do that to a cat?,...If you don't want them to scratch your furniture or things, then DON'T GET A CAT!...It really is very simple...and then throw him outside where he was hit by a car, with no claws to protect himself from other wild creatures or no claws to climb any trees to get away......hmmmmmph...i was already mad at whoever did this to him....and I was resolved before even meeting him that we were going to adopt him and give him a loving home.

We met him, and he was screaming at the people who brought him out into a room to meet us.....and he was slapping their faces......
"He is a hitter..."...they told us......I can see that, I thought....but I overlooked all of that and resolved myself to work with him, anyway.....and against Stan's warnings to me, I said..."we will take him home..."

I have an unrealistic ego in that regard, thinking I can help any needy creature......as most times, i can.

"What are his special needs?"...i asked....

I was told by the doctor, his back legs were a little wobbly that was all....

Arnold bonded with me somewhat in the car on his way to his new home, rubbing up against my hand, while in his carrying cage, while i talked to him.....and put my hand inside the case to pet him....

Once home, I put Arnold on the counter where the community cat food always is to show him where it was, as i pulled him out of the case. he smelled the bowls, but did not want anything.

Finnegan , our eldest cat here, who is big, jumped up to sniff at Arnold, and Arnold growled at Finney LOUDLY with warnings that Finney was going to get hit any moment, and Finney would not jump down, so i grabbed Arnold and carried him upstairs to put Arnold in the guest room all by himself to feel safe, where Grayson, our youngest cat, had been basically living ever since he came here to live in the beginning of September...but since, my brother came for Thanksgiving and displaced Grayson for a few days by needing that room, Grayson was not really living in that room anymore, anyway...he had been starting to blend in here everywhere else.

 

Part two

I had asked before we took Arnold.....

"Does he get along with other cats and dogs, as we have 3 other cats and 4 pug dogs...."

"Oh, yes", I was told......Sure, he got along having free reign of the hospital while the other cats and dogs were in cages either sedated or recovering from injuries or sicknesses. They did not mention that part to me at the time.

Anyway, carrying Arnold upstairs, i got punched in the face quite a few times....and they were punches...not slaps...and "OUCH!".... Arnold must have developed all of his strength in his front legs and paws, while his back legs were of no use for quite some time.....and I never knew a cat could hit that hard....but I never let go, as he continued to beat me up, as i wanted to get him safely behind the gate to the unoccupied room....where he would have a clean littler box, his own food and water, plenty of toys, a bed, a cat bed...plenty of things to explore, as that is quite a big room with lots of safe space.

Arnold hid under the bed...and anytime, curious Minxy would try to go in there to check Arnold out, she was met with the same warning growls, so Minxy always jumped over the gate and far away from that room.
Grayson just sat outside of the room, at the other side of the gate....observing everything from a safe distance, but he was curious also. He was growled at every time, also.

It was getting very late, and all 3 of my other cats gave up trying to investigate Arnold. I went to bed, and looking in on Arnold, he looked comfortable sleeping on top of the bed on the soft quilt.

I felt things would be ok, somehow, still.

 

A cat that harmed and abused will take a while to realize things are getting better and will begin to mingle with animals/people at his own pace. Good for you for taking him and I hope he begins to relax and enjoy the LUCK that has come his way---YOU.

 

Scratcho, I should have said to be continued each time.....as I am still writing this. It is painful for me to write, so i have to stop as I go to regain my composure.....and it is the first draft, told rather quickly here, so I can finish the biographical story in a decent amount of time......In writing a story that is not for any audience yet....one molds the first draft like clay into excellence.....editing, and re-editing.....and maybe telling one page at a time each day to perfection....I am just rushing through a first draft for now.....but I will address your kind comment after this first draft is finished and I will signify that, as well....that i am done with this true story.

 

Ok, part three after just balling my eyes out again....but then I thought...no one died, no one got seriously hurt....skake out of it.....so I did and now

part three

The next morning, I heard Stan go downstairs early, as he always does to go out to run errands and things, and I heard him say....."Ok, good luck then..."....while I heard a cat growling and screaming from downstairs....

Stan yelled up to me....

"Arnold is in the green chair in the corner..."

I replied..."Oh, good, he explored the house then..."

Little did I know then, that Stan went to touch his back and got hit very hard, and Stan thought to himself at that moment...he was done with the cat, and I was on my own with it.........so that is why he said..."Good luck" to Arnold then.


The three pug siblings had gone downstairs with Stan and all went into the tv room on the couch and fouton to continue sleeping, as they always do...ad Moxy was still upstairs with me, as she always is until I go downstairs.....

Well, I could not sleep after that commotion, so I went downstairs, right after Stan left with Moxy...and saw Arnold in the green chair in the library here where this computer is...in a chair that no one or no animal ever goes on to rest...and said..."Hi, Arnold!"...with happiness in my voice....He growled loudly at me.

Moxy noticed him, too, and started to run over to him and the chair with the 3 sibling pugs following her lead....and they were all running towards Arnold...like the bunch of wild , uncontrollable banshees they all become in the pact they become...They used to run after Champy dad pug,too, in a pack, until he would collapse on the floor...with his legs fighting the air. It would take Stan and I so much effort to just lift Champy away from them all.....as the pact is, as I said is uncontrollable....

i hate these pugs when they do this....Champy never did...They must all have an insanity gene from their mom. It is just awful, and no wonder Grayson will not mingle with them. He does run past them to and from now, while they are are sleeping and quiet these days, so we are making progress now, in some respect.

Minxy plays catch me if you can games with them...as she loves to be chased....and Finnegan is so big and mighty...that the pugs do not mess with him. they learned early on about Finnegan.

Arnold jumped in the air to try and jump on the table here, but missed and landed on the floor, and 4 pugs were chasing him wildly around and it was a scene from hell....

I ran after all of them....and Arnold jumped on the counter in the kitchen where the community cat food is, and where no pug could ever jump up to or near...that is why the food is on the counter in the first place..

Also, i had noticed that all three of my other cats were in the basement, and I don't know how long they all had been hiding in the basement, or what happened with Arnold and the three of them while we slept.....as i asked Stan before he left, any other cats around, and he said no.....

Minxy always comes around to say hello, when I come downstairs, and so does Finney, but not his morning.

(to be cont)

 

Part 4

My first instinct was to wrap my arms around Arnold on the counter to comfort him, so that is what I did....With 20/20 hindsite, that was the wrong thing for me to do. I should have just lead all of the pugs outside for awhile into their pen out there, and then tried to calm down things here....but my first instinct was to comfort Arnold to show him love......and he was the tazmanian devil......and I thought I had gotten smacked the night before....?!

No, nothing like this.....He struck me several times in the face even harder than the night before, knocking mylgasses off and breaking them.....It is a good thing I have extra pairs, as the glasses I was wearing were finished for good...but that is neither here nor there.....and Arnold was biting me all over......my hands and my lips...i tasted blood running from my lips......but still I would not give up on him,. I had heard of holding therapy before, and was determined to continue no matter what was happening to me......

Arnold pee'd on the counter and on himself, and my next thought was to get his back end under the kitchen faucet sink to rinse him off, which I did.....At this point Arnold was trying to cuddle my neck......probably thinking that I was going to drown him...and I would never drown anything.....but he was clinging to me for his life, so i finished
rinsing him off rather quickly and lifted him away from the sink, and he went back into fight mode again.....trying to kill me......and if he had been a tiger, he would have. He was trying to kill me....I gave up.....put him back on the counter without trying to dry him off, and exploded into tears, as i said to him...."This is not going to work out..."

I left him on the counter and went to call Stan to tell him what had happened in tears....and Stan said..."I am calling the hospital "

He did and called me back and told me they told him to bring him back, and he was coming home to get him, to bring him back there now.

i remained crying loudly in my computer chair for a good long time.....not for myself but for Arnold.......I knew he had to have been very abused all of his life...and there would be nothing I could do to get through to him,as the doctors at the hospital told me he was mental...one moment being cuddly and the next hitting people like crazy that he just cuddled with, and he had one on one relationships with them for three months. They did not tell me this cat was psychotic and had bipolar. ...and they did not tell me he bit like that.

I have heard that animals can get the same mental illnesses that people do, and I saw it so clearly this morning.
i was also worried about the welfare of my other cats......and for the pugs bulging eyes...that something could happen to one of them at some point.

(to be cont)

 

Part 4

Stan came home and I was still crying admitting defeat to myself...My super complex about helping all animals was gone....I was reduced to a ball of tears...I was heartbroken..for Arnold.

I went downstairs to the basment to get the carrying case again, so Stan could bring him back........and as Stan and i both approached Arnold...he was still on the same counter in the corner in a small bowl with his back turned to all of us...with his face against the wall.

that is the saddest thing I ever saw...I saw how sad and depressed this cat is, with that illustration. A healthy animal would be looking to see anything approaching him......He never turned his head to look at us. This is the picture of him that broke my heart the most......and will always haunt me.

Stan put gloves on and was trying to get Arnold in the case with no success......and i finally said..."Give me the gloves."
He gave them to me, and I tapped Arnold gently by his tail to go in the case, and he did....and that was that.

Stan took him back.....and told them to keep the donation for adopting him we had given them.

Stan told me Arnold was happy to be back there....Went out of the case and started walking around the place like nothing ever happened. that made me happy to hear.....

I have written to the main doctor who gave him to us to let her know what exactly happened. I wanted to tell her....that Arnold needs to be in a home with no other animals...and with someone who will just let him be, and let him make the moves towards them, if he ever would, but I cannot tell a doctor what to do, but by illustrating to her in an email what happened here...I hope she knows that is what he really needs. I fear for him....and people with no patience that may adopt him and what they might do...Throw him out? I did tell this doctor that, though.

I still love Arnold. I want the best for him. I want the rest of his life to be happy. I was so disappointed and heartbroken that i could not give him that.

Yes, without any other animals here, he would still be here doing whatever he wants to do and never going outside.

i also learned that the doctors think he was bottle fed...and never had a mother.......

I will be back for my conclusions and insights later.

 

Oh, and a photo of the paper that Stan broughtt home to me that made me fall in love with Arnold in the first place....

 

I'm so sorry it didn't work out Moonglow. Just know you tried your best and it isn't your fault things didn't go as planned. I hope Arnold found a good home.

 

Yes, me, too. He needs a special home with a special person or people....and a lot of love therapy......constant.

Finnegan cat came back upstairs shortly after Arnold left. Minxy came upstairs about an hour later and both cats were normal again...They have been with me for a long time.....already and know they are safe with me. Grayson took over 24 hours to return to normal.....He is still unsure about everything....he has not been here long enough to know, and I am working with him every day to make sure he will be a big gentle cat......as I saw early on...he could go bolistic, too...Maine Coon cat....yep,. he is going to get very big and he needs to be gentle with all of the family members here...all of us....i am making great strides with him.......and i feared Arnold would set him back and teach him neurotic ways with observation, too.

 

I got my cats as six week old kittens so this is all they've ever known, I guess I take their behavior for granted. They are both gentle and well adjusted, never met a stranger. I never thought about the challenges of taking in an older cat.

 

The doctor told me that declawing a cat makes them mental, anyway.....I have taken in older cats before....None were like this.....

Grayson was a baby when he came here, but since he still sucks on the inside of my blanket that is fuzzy, I think he did not have his mother long enough. yes, 6 weeks, is how long one should leave kittens with their moms,but sometimes outside, something can happen to the mom cat, too....which might have been the case for Grayson, as he was found outside by someone, as a baby.

 

Arnold is probably writing his own account of the story. He got a day out and got to beat up and harass humans and animals.

I hear his voice being similar to Garfield's.

 

lol...that would make me happy then......

that was a first for me...getting royally beaten up by a cat....my lips look good now, too....not yet....lol

 

Your Story Made Me Sad......Same Happened To Me A Few Years Back With A Feral Cat Over A Period Of 18 Months.....

Made Friends But I Could Never Pat Him Or I Would Get Batted.

Finally He Started Using The Cat Door And Would Come In To Eat......THEN THE TROUBLE

BEGAN.......Wouldn't Let The Other Cats Near The Food Bowl And Feriously Guarded The Cat

Door So No Cat Could Come In Or Leave......The Cats Were A Wreck.....And I Was A Wreck......

Sadly Had To Have Him Put Down......



Cheers Glen.

 

In summary, the saddest moment for me with this story, is when Arnold had his back to everything and his face in the wall at the end, as he illustrated exactly what i felt like I was doing to him....turning my back on him and giving up.....and he probably sensed it. Animals do......and i can justify it all that I want to, but that is what it boiled down to.

 

but.....good news! I got this email early this morning back from the main doctor who cared for Arnold.....

"
Hi (inserted my name) I am so very sorry for what happened. I do appreciate your kindness and big heart. Arnold means a lot to us as we’ve grown to really adore him. I think whoever owned him let him out because of his behavior and didn’t care to go looking for him when he didn’t return home . I hope you are ok and didn’t get hurt. I would like to send you back your donation if you would like as I would feel bad keeping it. Our receptionist has stepped up and has asked to take Arnold home. She doesn’t have any other pets at the moment so I am praying for a good fit. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you and if your injuries are ok, I would hate for you to have been hurt by him, also if you would like me to send the donation to the address on your app.
Thanks again
(inserted her name)"



Of course, i told her I was fine...and that I cried all day for Arnold and not myself and that I sensed everyone there loved Arnold...to keep our donation and give it to go with Arnold and his new home and things he would need and that i was so happy to get this news! YAY!

My wish came true for Arnold!

 

I hope he's still continuing to do well now!
Yes, this is a relatable story. Well, not as violent, but my parents' cats (or graybee as I call him, mostly has issues) does not get along with my siblings cats. My bro' s cat comes for a visit and she's very friendly and good with us humans, but graybee seems very threatened and so she ends up hiding under beds or on top of dressers and he stalks and growls at her a lot. Since I frequently watch over them, but only check in, well I worry about them sharing food and litterboxes. I've literally had to separate graybee in a locked room (temporarily of course) just so the others could eat. I never watched them use the toilet while there though, so I always go home worrying about that, and one time I think, "lady" let's call her, pooped on the floor. Shit! As I write this it sounds like the only logically solution is to bring lady over here, but our house isn't exactly kitty proof. I dunno. Hard thing. And I know my bro and parents both are stubborn about kennel care.

But yes, then my sister's cat, "emmy", she is like the same way, except she was hiding from us humans for a long time too. Oh, she did come out sometimes to play with yarn, but she stayed waaay upstairs for most of her visits. Sister doesn't live very close so the last visit was few years ago now. I guess they get a housesitter or something when she visits now. Luckily Emmy is doing a lot better at her home though, with my sister and the new baby. I mean, we are so grateful for that! But there was talk from sister's husband to get rid of the cat for awhile. My sister wouldn't have it, and I was very glad it stuck out. Man! When I visit, I spend equal parts time with baby and with Emmy. Forget the adults. Lol it's all about the children!

Getting off topic. Nice storytelling!