The Mission City’s volunteer fire department were on the scene
last Saturday morning when a call went out for a few good men to
help a kitty in a bind
– a case where curiosity almost did kill the cat.
San Juan Bautista – The Mission City’s volunteer fire department were on the scene last Saturday morning when a call went out for a few good men to help a kitty in a bind – a case where curiosity almost did kill the cat.
A Prunedale couple were out on a weekend drive to San Juan Bautista, when they started having car trouble in the last few miles of their drive. They pulled their truck into the parking lot at Windmill Market to see what the trouble was, and were shocked when they opened the hood. A small black and white kitten had crawled into the car, was stuck up against the radiator and caught in the fan belt, where it had remained for the 13-mile journey.
“It’s really common for cats to get into cars, especially during cold weather,” said Julie Carreiro, Animal Control supervisor for the City of Hollister. “They climb in there to get warm, and then can’t come out. Usually if the car is started, the fan belt kills them or they fall out of the car on the road. This one is a very lucky kitty.”
The cat did not belong to the Prunedale couple, nor did they recognize the cat from the neighborhood. They disassembled as much of the fan belt as they could, but eventually called the San Juan Volunteer Fire Department to help free the cat.
“His leg was broken when he was stuck in the fan belt, but that’s probably what saved him,” said Fire Lt. Chris Finstad. “You could tell his leg was hurt, but when we finally got him out he was in pretty good shape. He was responsive and he wasn’t even crying, but he wasn’t happy.”
When the cat was freed, the fire department took the kitty to the Hollister Animal Shelter, where it was given first aid and determined to be a female.
“The staff says she’s a wonderful kitty, and very nice,” Carreiro said.
Yesterday the cat was taken to the vet and anesthetized for treatment of her broken leg. Initially, Carreiro feared that the cat might have suffered fractures in her pelvis, which would have entailed more costly and difficult surgeries for her.
Thankfully, however, her leg is the only serious injury she obtained over the course of her harrowing journey, although the location of the break might cause her to deal with bouts of arthritis later in life.
“There’s no good reason that she won’t be able to live a perfectly normal, happy kitty life,” Carreiro said.
Once the cat receives proper treatment and is spayed, she will be returned to the shelter, where staff is currently sifting through “loss” records to determine if she rightfully belongs to anyone. After seven days, however, she can be adopted by anyone and prospective owners can visit her as early as Monday. After a week or two, however, the shelter may be forced to euthanize her if no one is interested in adding the kitty to their family.
“She needs the sort of home where she can recuperate in a calm environment, probably in a smaller enclosed sort of space,” Carreiro said. “It wouldn’t be right to just turn her loose in the back yard with a cast on.”
For more information about adopting the Prunedale kitty, or to help with her vet bills, call Julie Carreiro at (831) 636-4320.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
