My cat came in this morning really out of sorts… his ear was bloody, his eyes were swollen, he had fresh blood in his fur, and his breathing was rapid and shallow.  His long fur was full of thorns and debris, causing me to think that he’d been in the woods behind our house.  Because he’s so dang fluffy, I couldn’t tell where else he was hurt.  He came in, curled up on the couch and put his head down.  Usually, when I open the fridge in the morning, Bee comes running for his breakfast; today he just laid there, looking at me.  I brought some food in a little bowl to him on the couch… he sniffed it and turned his head.  I went to pick him up to check his body for injury and he growled at me - he’s never growled at me before.  He also reaches up with his widdle kitty arms to be lifted or hugged on a normal day, but today his ears went flat and he growled.  I gently put him back down and called the vet.

Because I couldn’t lift him, I had to get my husband to come home from work to help me.  We took him to the vet and had to leave him there.  Bee had no bites around his neck or on his body, no scratches (apart from the one on his ear) to indicate that he was in a fight.  Bee’s nails were all intact, which makes his injuries unlikely to have been caused by being hit by a car.  This is super effing disturbing, and let me tell you why:

Our house is on the very edge of a housing development, and it backs almost right onto the woods.  We have a modest backyard, and then a 12 foot drop off to the forest floor.  Our neighbours’ yard is approximately 4 feet higher than ours, and they have a fence that is approximately 3 feet high.  On top of their fence, they have a bird-feeder that attracts cats, squirrels, and anything else that likes seeds or birds.  The neighbours on the other side of them approached us a few months back to let us know that they had seen the man from the bird-feeder house KICK a black and white cat off the fence - which would result in said cat falling approximately 19-20 feet to the forest floor (assuming they missed the rocks).  If the black and white cat was one of ours (we have two), they showed no sign of it… but there are tons of cats in the neighbourhood. 

Today, Bee comes in wet, bloody and hurt… with injuries consistent with a fall.  He has a large contusion on his side.  He was loaded with thorns, which I think came from the dead blackberry bushes at the bottom of the drop.  Bee climbs down there all the time, and he’s never come home this covered in thorns.  I figure he must’ve either fallen into the blackberry bushes or ran into them for refuge. 

Our vet has given him antibiotics and some pain relief, for now.  We have to watch him really closely, in case there is internal damage.  Who kicks a cat, seriously?!  Please, if there is a cat in your yard, sniffing at your bird feeder or just pissing you off by sitting there, spray it with water…. there’s no need to kick him.

I’ll be purchasing a climbing tree for him for inside, and in the summer I’ll consider building him an enclosure… it’s clearly not safe for him to be outside here :’(

Some pics of him on much happier days: