12/22/2024
It was late, and I saw a dead cat in the road. I went to get it out of the road and take it to the vet's the next morning so the owner could have closure.
As I went to pick him up, he moved his head slightly and gave out one of the weakest meows I've ever heard. I rushed him home as soon as I could, put him on my bed, and called every vet in the area to find one that was open. I found one and carried him to the car.
He was feather light and had no microchip. The vet determined he was most likely a stray, and an x-ray showed he had two broken legs and a broken rib. Through all of this, he could not stop purring; it was very weak but it was there. The vet said as the bill would be very high and there was no owner, the best thing to do would be to put him to sleep and to leave the room.
I couldn't leave. I decided he needed someone at the end, but then I realized I just couldn't let that happen. I was determined he had an owner who would have been devastated to have seen him like this, and I'd find them. So, with my term's fees for school, I had him fixed. No owner ever answered my ads.
While he was in casts, he was determined to try and follow me, but his legs flung around like paddles on a boat, so he got the nickname Paddlefoot, Pad for short. It stuck. My best friend of nine years now.
If I could say anything, it would be that not all cats die on impact with a car, so please stop if you hit one.
