Long Suffering River Finally Finds a Home after Having Been Run Over by a Motorist and Nearly Drowned

River

"He gets around, but not as well as a cat who hasn't been affected this way. I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to get away from something that wanted to get him."
-- Amy Boddie of Fairhope Cat Coalition

River apparently at one time had a regular home but for whatever reason he found himself out walking near County Road 10 outside of Fairhope, Alabama, last October 4th. That was when the handsome ten-month-old mixed-breed American Shorthair was struck by a motorist and knocked into the Bon Secour River.

Pulled from the river by an unidentified party, he had suffered a shattered pelvis and a broken femur. Thanks to the veterinary care procured for him by the Fairhope Cat Coalition, his life was not only spared but he has recovered about as well as could be expected considering the severity of his life-threatening injuries.

"He gets around, but not as well as a cat who hasn't been affected this way," Amy Boddie of the Coalition told the Baldwin Times of nearby Daphne on January 1st. (See "Cat Fished Out of River Still Needs Good Home.") "I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to get away from something that wanted to get him."

River also is unable to scratch his ear with the leg that was broken but otherwise he has been given a clean bill of health by the attending veterinarians and should not have any more health issues related to the assault. 

After having been sterilized and vaccinated, he languished at the Coalition for months waiting to be adopted despite being a very sociable cat. "He is marvelous, social. He gets in the laps of people he doesn't know," Boddie told the Baldwin Times in the article cited supra. "He likes cats and dogs. He's a very affectionate cat."

Recently, his ship finally came in and he now has a permanent home. In fact, according to an April 14th letter from the Coalition's Glenda Turner, his new family is so delighted with him that it is considering establishing a "River Fund" in his honor.

When it comes to rescuing cats there is never enough money, veterinary care, or rooms at the inn. It therefore would have been easy for the Coalition to have turned its back on this badly injured cat and allowed him to die.

To their credit here and now and possibly later on, they chose not to do so. Instead, they spared no expense in order to not only save his life but also to rehabilitate him and to find him a good home.

Now, he hopefully can look forward to long and joyful life. To have survived life on the street, being run over by a hit-and-run motorist, nearly drowning in a river, and months of captivity at a shelter, he certainly is entitled to his happiness.

It is indisputable that he is better off alive than dead. Likewise, the people at the Coalition are better individuals for having chosen compassion over coldblooded expediency.

For whatever reason, not all rescue groups and shelters are willing to go the extra mile for injured and sick cats. (See Cat Defender post of April 18, 2010 entitled "Ally's Last Ride Lands Her in a Death Trap Set by an Uncaring and Irresponsible Supermarket Chain and a Bargain Basement Shelter.")

Photo: Amy Boddie of Fairhope Cat Coalition.