Taterbug's Worst Day

Last Friday (September 21st) our cat, Taterbug, had a horrific experience! I had been over in Mt. Airy having lunch with Jean and doing some birthday shopping for Tom most of the afternoon.
When I got home around 4:00 I thought I heard dogs barking -- I NEVER hear dogs barking around here. I had to use the bathroom, so I dashed into the house and when I went back out, I saw these two husky-type dogs down in the lower pasture and THEY HAD TATERBUG! Oh my God, the sight of it went through me like a knife! All I could think of was that these dogs were going to kill Taterbug! Well, I ran down there and started yelling and waving my arms and trying to shoo the dogs away. No luck -- they just kept on barking and nudging Taterbug around in the dirt. I threw caution to the wind and grabbed BOTH of those damned dogs and dragged them by their collars up to the garage and tied them to a fencepost with a lead rope. Ran back down to where Taterbug was lying and called Animal Control. (Thank goodness for cell phones!)
Tater wasn't bleeding anywhere that I could see, but he was soaking wet and filthy dirty from his shoulders all the way to the end of his tail. He had his body pressed flat to the ground; his eyes were as big as saucers and he was panting really hard. When Animal Control answered the phone, I briefed them on the situation. The animal control person said someone had just called to report two missing Huskies; I said "Their !@#$% dogs are here. Tell them to come get them or I'm going to SHOOT THEM."
The animal control person then helped me by giving me the phone number for the closest veterinarian -- I knew there was one in Taylorsville; only about 10 miles away. Tater's regular vet is all the way up in New Market and she's actually in Paris right now. I called the Taylorsville vet office and they said to get him there as soon as possible.
Well, I was afraid to move him. At that point, I didn't know if he had a fractured spine or internal injuries or anything and I KNOW that if a cat is in distress, they will often bite as a reflex to pain. So I just stayed with him and kept talking to him and made shade with my body so he would be a little cooler. Eventually Rosa came out from where ever she had been hiding and Tater perked up a little bit. He finally got up and very slowly walked up to the house wth me; came in and ate 3 or 4 pieces of dry cat food and then promptly went and used the litter box. But when he was done, he came back to the kitchen, laid on the floor and cried. I was praying hard!
After a bit, I heard a car come in the driveway and I went outside. It was the people who own the dogs. They apparently live about 2 miles up the road and this stupid woman stood there and said "my dogs don't bother cats" etc. I was livid! All I said to her was "Get your freaking dogs OFF MY PROPERTY and I will be in touch with you after I get THIS cat back from the vet." Grrrr!
Meanwhile, I know thatTom is breaking land speed records between Hagerstown and here. When he finally arrived, Tater went right into his carrier (very unusual!) and we carted him off to Taylorsville.
Well I must tell you, this was a very positive experience! The vet "Cheryl Cohen" was wonderful. She was very gentle, but thorough and she kept talking to Taterbug the whole time she was doing the exam and let us be right there in the treatment room with him, too. She had to do xrays to make sure he didn't have any internal injuries or broken bones and he cried when the assistant carried him off to the xray room, but he was otherwise cooperative.
Bottom line - he is pretty much ok. No broken bones, no internal bleeding. BUT he had three of his claws ripped completely off and Dr. Cohen said that is extremely painful! She dosed him with a long-acting antibiotic, cleaned his toes really well and gave us some pain meds to bring home with us. She wanted to bathe him because he was so filthy dirty. Those dogs must have rolled him in the dirt for God only knows how long and he is a medium long-hair cat so you can just imagine what a mess he was. Tom and I said we thought if we just let him dry out that we could then groom the dirt out of his coat -- no need to traumatize him any further. By the time we got home, his coat was a little drier, but very soiled.
Taterbug spent the rest of the evening lying under my glider-rocker in the living room where he felt safe. All the other cats came in and had to check him out, but they didn't bother him. Woody was BESIDE HIMSELF! He and Tater are buddies and that little guy just kept walking around and squalking his dismay! I have never seen Woody so upset! He eventually settled down, but refused to go back outside for the rest of the night.
Now, almost a week later, Tater is doing ok. He hasn't asked to go outside, though and it's just as well because Dr. Cohen said we have to try to keep his bare toes clean as possible so he doesn't get an infection. She also said that he probably ripped those nails out when he was instinctually trying to HOLD ON to the ground to keep those dogs from getting to his belly. Poor Taterbug! Of all the cats for this to happen to, he's the worst because he's so timid to begin with.
Anyway, later on I called the dog woman and left a message telling her that I expected her to reimburse me the $252.00 it cost us at the vet. The people at Animal Control said no question about it, she was responsible and if she paid on her own, they wouldn't need to get involved. They also told me that she was going to be FINED $125 PER DOG for allowing them to "run at large." The leash laws in this county are really strict -- AND ENFORCED. I wholeheartedly support this law. MY DOGS NEVER went off the property unless I took them and that's the way it should be! Grrrr.
On Sunday afternoon, the dog woman called and said she was bringing the money over. Well, she still wanted to stand here and tell me that her dogs had never bothered a cat before. I told her "Maybe you just never HEARD ABOUT IT. There's a first time for everything and I will tell you this flat-out: If those dogs EVER come on my farm again, I won't be calling Animal Control. I will be loading my .22 so consider yourself WARNED!"
Frankly, I ddn't feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for the DOGS because they were just doing what dogs do -- run and get into trouble. Huskies are especially bad that way because when they get loose, they just run in a straight line and turn off their hearing to their owner calling. It's what they do. Plus, one dog is one thing; when you have TWO the "pack mentality" sets in and you can just forget obedience training. They are going to RUN together.
I gotta be honest -- the whole experience just totally wiped me out. I am soooo sensitive when something happens to my animals-- I think I was in shock a little bit over the whole ugly mess. To add insult to injury, on Monday, I discovered FLEAS on Taterbug! We have NEVER had a flea problem around here, so he obviously got them off those !@#$% dogs! I haven't even seen that many ticks this year and I avoid putting insecticides on my pets. Needless to say, EVERYBODY got Frontlined as soon as I saw flea dirt in Taterbug's coat. Just one more thing....
So that's the latest from Smallville. Please keep Taterbug in your thoughts as he continues to recover. And if you have a dog (or dogs) please - for their own safety (and for the sake of peace in your neighborhood) keep them confined to YOUR PROPERTY at all times.