Option to Adopt: Scuttles Cat is Healing and Seeks a Happy Home – Greenville, SC

Okay friends, I know this beautiful face will look familiar to you. Scuttles, sweet little Scuttles, was hit by a car, and she was in really bad shape and had tremendous Vet bills. I asked y’all for some help and y’all came through.  We ended up with $2605, and even though that was a bit short of our goal, it is totally amazing.  Thank you all so much, you are such special friends.

If you need a refresher on Scuttles story, it is HERE.

But I told you I would be back when this very special girl was ready to look for her forever home.  I know you all would love to know a little more about Scuttles, so I want to share a letter we received from Crystal, who is Scuttles wonderful caretaker.  Please note that some of these pics are from Scuttles first outing from all of her cage rest.

Hi everyone, this is Crystal, I am Scuttles’ caretaker and I have a lot to be thankful for today. I need to start with a huge thank you to Brian and his dad for sharing his blog space and all the effort put into raising funds for Scuttles.

I’d like to give you all Scuttles’ story with a little more detail. I work on a small farm in Taylors, SC for an elderly man caring for the various animal residents. The farm itself is a throw- back to a much simpler time. It has been there for many years but is in the middle of what has become a heavily developed area. Now the farm is surrounded by subdivisions containing hundreds of houses and extremely busy roads. We often gain new farm residents simply by strays wandering in (cast offs from the subdivisions I guess), as was the case with Scuttles. Scuttles appeared on a cold evening in December.  I made sure there was food left out for her to easily find. Find it she did and she decided to stay.

In the following days Scuttles and I often had conversations (Scuttles likes to talk) but she was fearful of human contact. In fact, that’s how she earned the name Scuttles as she always scuttled away when someone was to close. I didn’t mind not being able to touch her but she had to be spayed. I trapped her easily and off she went to the vet to be tested, vaccinated and spayed. Everything went well so I picked her up the following day and drove her back to the farm. I opened the door of the carrier expecting her to be upset and run away but to my surprise she calmly walked out and sat down a few feet away. This was by far the closest I had ever been to her so I decided to sit and talk to her. I have no idea why, but in just a few minutes she walked back to me and allowed me to start petting her.  Maybe I was the only person to ever take the time for her. Who knows why, but that day Scuttles became a different cat and flourished.

After a couple of days of being my friend, Scuttles decided to make friends with John (the farm owner) and soon progressed to greeting every visitor to the farm. Most days when I arrived for work Scuttles was waiting for me in the driveway. When I opened the car door she would jump into my lap for some petting and proceed to follow me all over the farm while I worked. Everything went along well for a couple of months until John fell and broke his hip. After his fall there were a lot more people coming and going to the house which Scuttles loved since she was able to get more attention. Then I drove up one Monday afternoon and Scuttles was nowhere in sight which was very odd. I worried immediately and by that night I was sure something bad had happened. I spent several hours looking for her and asking the people who had been at the farm that day when they saw her last. By Tuesday when there was no sign of Scuttles I began to wonder if maybe a coyote had gotten her. On Wednesday morning John’s daughter Karin came over early to let the dogs out and when she did, they immediately began barking in the back yard. When she went to check on them she found them standing over Scuttles, who was curled up into a little ball. Scuttles was very obviously hurt. Karin called me and I met her at the nearest vet office.

Scuttles was unable to stand and x rays soon revealed just how broken her little body was. It was apparent that she had been hit by a car and her injuries were only possibly treatable by an orthopedic specialist. Scuttles had multiple breaks to the pelvis and injury to the hip joint. She was also showing symptoms of neurologic damage. The only thing the general vet could do was give her pain meds and make a referral to Upstate Vet Specialist. We brought Scuttles back to the farm and I set up a cage for her in the barn so she would be in familiar surroundings and made her as comfortable as I possibly could.

John and I discussed what course to take and he felt he could not afford UVS for Scuttles on top of his own medical bills. To say that I was heartbroken is an understatement. For you see, there is something about Scuttles that I have no words to describe.

The best I can do is to say that she is a special soul and all you need to do is be in her presence for a very short time to feel it and look into her eyes to see it. I sat with Scuttles through most of that night, she was so very still and quiet, that I wondered at times if she would live through the night. Her breathing was rapid and harsh from the pain not being controlled well but she still wanted my attention. She just wanted to lay her head in my hand. Even then I could look into her eyes and see that special light, it was dim for sure but it was still there.  I could not allow that light to die. I could not imagine giving up on this wonderful, beautiful creature without a fight.

I decided to make a consult appointment at UVS for Scuttles the next day on my own. The specialist said that he was sure he could repair the broken bones but there was no guarantee that her neurologic issues would improve. The estimate for surgery he gave me was $3,500 with no guarantee of a full recovery.

Now, believe me when I tell you that I do not have an extra $3,500 dollars lying around at any time. I think I have the best job in the world because I spend my days with animals, but I do not make a lot of money. I ended up calling a fellow animal loving friend and asked her to cover the cost of the surgery and I would figure out a way to repay her later. She agreed and Scuttles was immediately taken back to be prepped for surgery. Another friend, Jenna had accompanied Scuttles and I to our appointment at UVS for moral support. She could tell I was worried about repaying the money so she offered to contact Brian and his dad for some fundraising help.

Thankfully Brian agreed to help and soon started fundraising for Scuttles. In the meantime Scuttles’ surgery went very well but there were still lots of questions about her neurologic issues. Would she ever walk normally? Would she eventually need a rear leg amputated? Would she be incontinent? Would she have problems with bowel movements?

The biggest question of all was had I made the right decision, not just for me but for Scuttles? I didn’t know the answer to that and I was worried. Jenna emailed me a link to Brian’s blog so I could keep up with the fundraising and I have to say that when I visited the site I was amazed. I want you all to know that I saw every single comment that was posted. Scuttles and I felt every purr, hug and prayer you sent our way. You all carried us through a very hard time. I am absolutely humbled by your generosity.

I spent many years in cat rescue, often seeing cats in terrible situations and seeing the worst in people. So much so that I begin to automatically assume the worst of everyone. I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful it was to see Brian blog with everyone’s comments of love and support. Not to mention everyone who so generously donated to Scuttles’ surgery fund. You all had no idea what a special little cat Scuttles is, you just heard about an animal in need and you jumped right in to help. You all gave me a much needed reminder that in this society where so many animals, especially cats, live and die anonymously, there are good people who care. I am reminded that we can be their voice. We can work together and help. We can make a difference. Thank you.

So that brings us to present. It has been just over a month since Scuttles underwent surgery. I am thrilled to report that she recovering wonderfully.

Make no mistake, the surgery and the next couple of weeks were hard on her but she was a trooper. She can stand and walk normally now although her back end is still weak, which is to be expected.

She is not incontinent and is having no problems with bowel movements. The only issue we have had is that she has not been eating well, so her doctor has kept her on an appetite stimulant. Scuttles has been on complete cage rest ever since surgery but has not complained even a little bit. She has been happy with the extra attention. I have rarely seen a cat that craves human touch as much as Scuttles does.

We see her vet again next week and depending on how he thinks she has progressed she may be allowed a bit of very closely supervised time out of the cage.

We will not have complete healing of the bones until 12 weeks. She still has a ways to go.

That brings us to the next big hurdle. Scuttles needs a SAFE home. As much as I love Scuttles and want her to stay on the farm, I know that is not an option for her.

There are coyotes in the area and the road is just too dangerous. Just 2 weeks after Scuttles was injured another of our feral barn cats named Twiggy was hit. Sadly Twiggy’s injuries were just too severe to overcome so I was forced to euthanize her.

Scuttles is a young cat, we estimate just over a year old. She is a small cat, weighing right at 6 pounds. Don’t be fooled by the small package for she has a huge personality with so much love to give.

I believe that every animal, particularly rescued animals, has a gift to give each of us if we care to see them. Scuttles has given me several. One was the renewed faith I discussed at length earlier, the other is the gift of a simple smile. You see, every time I look at Scuttles now and see how well she is recovering, it puts a big smile on my face. Scuttles has more gifts to give, I just need to help her find her way to the person she is meant to give them to.

In closing I want to share a quote with you that I believe to be absolute truth. “One thing I know for sure: a great soul can appear among us at any time, in the form of any creature.” You all helped me save a great soul, now can you help me find her forever home?

Transport can be arranged to the right home.  Please contact me, Brian at: brian (at) brianshomeblog (dot) com if you are interested in adopting Scuttles.  We will get your information to Crystal for vetting.  I’d like to ask the rest of you to share, share, share, and share again.  We’ve got to find this special girl the purrfect forever home.

Non-Affiliate Disclosure: We do not use affiliate advertising nor do we do product reviews for any form of compensation. If you see a product or service mentioned in any post, we purchased such good or service at our own expense and opted to tell you about it. No compensation was exchanged and the FTC can kiss my furry butt.