JOEY'S STORY

JOEY'S STORY

SOMETIMES RESCUING ANIMALS CAN LEAVE YOU HEARTBROKEN, SUCH IS THE CASE OF LITTLE JOEY.

ALTHOUGH WE ARE A HEDGEHOG SANCTUARY, WE GET INVOLVED IN RESCUING LOTS OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS.

ONE DAY WE GOT A CALL FROM A LADY CONCERNED ABOUT A CAT THAT HAD BEEN LIVING ROUGH FOR AT LEAST A YEAR, SHE SAID HIS OWNERS HAD LEFT HIM BEHIND WHEN THEY MOVED.

WITH MY SISTER IN TOW, WE WENT ALONG, AND SPENT A FEW HOURS SEARCHING THE STREETS OF HAWORTH, NO SIGN OF ANY DESPERATE CAT.

THEN JUST AS WE DECIDED TO CALL IT A DAY AND TRY AGAIN TOMMORROW, A SAD, THIN, DESPERATE LOOKING LITTLE CAT CAME TOWARDS US AND VIRTUALLY JUMPED INTO OUR ARMS, SO DESPERATE WAS HE FOR A BIT OF LOVE AND ATTENTION.

WE TOOK ( JOEY ) BACK TO THE SANCTUARY, HE WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO COME WITH US AND MADE NO ATTEMPT TO GET AWAY, HE PUT ALL HIS TRUST IN US TO DO WHAT WAS BEST FOR HIM, AMAZING AFTER WHAT HE HAD BEEN THROUGH.

NEXT DAY  JOEY WENT TO PETVAX VETERINARY CENTER IN SHIPLEY TO BE ASSESSED, THE VET WAS SHOCKED AT THE CONDITION JOEY WAS IN, HE WAS WEAK, AND THIN WITH SEVERE MALNUTRITION, HIS TEETH WERE SORE AND BLEEDING, HIS FUR WAS MATTED SO BAD THAT HIS SKIN WAS RED RAW. BECAUSE OF HIS WEAK CONDITION IT WAS DECIDED TO LEAVE ANY TREATMENT FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO GIVE JOEY A BETTER CHANCE.

JOEY LIVED IN THE HOUSE WITH ME AND MY FOUR OTHER CATS, AND WAS AN ABSOLUTE DARLING, HE WAS WELL BEHAVED, GOOD WITH THE OTHER CATS, AND ATE EVERYTHING HE WAS GIVEN EVEN THOUGH IT MUST HAVE BEEN PAINFUL FOR HIM WITH THE CONDITION OF HIS MOUTH. HE LOVED TO BE CUDDLED AND SLEPT EVERY NIGHT ON MY BED, NOT QUITE BELIEVING THAT HE HAD FOUND A HOME AT LAST.

TWO WEEKS LATER WE DECIDED TO TAKE THE RISK OF BEGINNING TREATMENT FOR JOEY BECAUSE HE WAS STRUGGLING TO EAT AS MOST OF HIS TEETH WERE BAD, THE VETS DECIDED THAT ALL HIS TEETH NEEDED REMOVING, BUT WE KNOW CATS SURVIVE THIS VERY WELL AND HAVE NO AFTER EFFECTS, THEY WOULD ALSO NEUTER JOEY AT THE SAME TIME, TO AVOID ANY FUTURE GENERATIONS OF UNWANTED KITTENS.

AFTER MAKING A FUSS OF JOEY THAT MORNING AND DROPPING HIM OFF AT THE VETS, I COULD'NT WAIT TO PICK HIM UP THAT EVENING AND GET HIM HOME TO SPOIL HIM WHILE HE WAS RECOUPERATING.

UNFORTUNATELY THE VETS DISCOVERED THAT JOEY HAD MASSIVE CANCER TUMOURS IN HIS MOUTH, AND THAT THEY WERE UNTREATABLE, THEY THOUGHT HE MUST BE IN A LOT OF PAIN. SO THEY RANG ME TO SAY THEY WANTED TO LET JOEY GO WHILE HE WAS ASLEEP ON THE OPERATING TABLE, IT WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST DECISIONS TO MAKE.

 I WANTED TO BRING HIM HOME AND CUDDLE HIM, I HAD ONLY HAD TWO WEEKS WITH HIM, NOT LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE IT UP TO HIM FOR ALL HE HAD BEEN THROUGH, I WAS ANGRY AND SAD, BUT I HAD TO REALISE THAT FOR JOEY THE EASIEST THING FOR HIM WAS TO STAY ASLEEP. ALL HIS SUFFERING WAS OVER.

 FOR THE SHORT TIME THAT HE WAS WITH ME, HE MADE A GREAT IMPACT AND I MISS HIM EVERY DAY.

PLEASE

IF YOU ARE MOVING HOUSE, DONT LEAVE YOUR CAT BEHIND, THEY SUFFER ENORMOUSLY  BEING LEFT ON THE STREETS, FIGHTING TO FIND ENOUGH FOOD TO SURVIVE, WITH NO WHERE TO GO IF THEY NEED HELP. IF YOU KNOW OF A CAT OR KITTEN IN NEED OF HELP, PLEASE CONTACT A LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER, OR CONTACT US FOR ADVICE THE CAT CAN'T ASK FOR HELP IT IS UP TO US.