BW's long journey to safety...

Hi, My name is Michelle. Myself and my boyfriend of 15 years, MIke, have had quite the journey with BW since he showed up at our front door 3 years ago. His little face peered in the window and we knew we had to try and help him. He was scatched up and dirty and we presumed that  he was either left behind when someone moved or dumped as we have seen happen before in our area. (Our Ivy was found dumped on the side of the road eating dirt to stay alive as a kitten) We started feeding him and providing shelter in our shed. He would show up at all different hours usually early morning or late at night and we would be woken up by our other cats making noise telling us he was there. We did our best to provide for him through a couple of crazy winters knowing that he was out there having to hide from coyotes, bobcats, and foxes which are prevalent in our area. He would not let us get close, but over time would stand back and not run away while we put out his food. A few months ago we saw him limping and knew we had to do something or he would become prey for another animal. We decided to use a havahart trap to try and catch him and our vet agreed to care for him once we did. After one failed attempt, we worried he would not come back, but we prayed he was ok and he did return after a few days looking very disheveled and we decided to try again. One afternoon he showed up when we were on our way out, but something told me this was our chance to try again so we stayed and set the tray and waited, watching for 30 minutes as he just lounged around very tentative to go inside the trap for food. Hunger finally got the best of him and he went in and to our total disbelief we got him!!! We knew we could help him. We put him in our garage and put the havahart inside a bigger dog cage and opened the havahart so he could have more space since we had no idea how long we would have him before the vet could see him. He was scared, but he was quiet. It's hard to watch because we knew he confused, but he was safe and fed.

Then the real journey began...our vet agreed to take a look at him the next afternoon. Feral cats can be very stealth so Mike studied the cage to make sure it was secure and tested it in various ways to make sure he couldn't escape. The next day when he arrived at the vet he was carrying the cage up a few steps with the help of one of the vet techs and then it happened. As they went up the stairs the havahart along with BW slid down to one side of the cage and somehow the weight of both allowed the bottom of the dog cage to sag open about 3 inches and within seconds BW squished himself out before either of them could react. We had lost him after everything we gone through to get to this point. Mike called me and I thought he had to be joking, but sadly he wasn't and we were devastated. BW was now lost 3.5 miles from our house in an unfamiliar area. This started a 2 1/2 week long all out search for him. We immediately started with printing out flyers and bought a trail cam to set up hoping he might stay around the vet property out of fear. We walked and drove around putting flyers on mailboxes in all the surrounding areas. I joined the online Facbook groups for the area to get the word out. We contacted animal control in the surrounding areas and ask for help from trappers. Since he was feral, he was not going to come to anyone. Our soul focus was getting BW back somehow. Our hearts broke thinking about him lost and scared in an unfamiliar area. After a week with no luck on the trail camera and so nervous with all the woods and wildlife around that area, we started getting messages with sightings. Mike spent endless hours driving around the area talking to people and asking them for help. The community where he was sighted was amazing! So many people willing to help by putting out food to keep him in the area so we could figure out a plan to trap him again. Was that even possible?!?! People would spot him on their ring cameras and notify us and allowed us to put a trap in their yard, but he did not go for it. A trapper who works on a volunteer basis also helped us too and talked to people in the neighborhood and advised us on what to do. A very nice couple contacted us and said they had a trap and would like to help and said they would set it up. We were very grateful, but with all this time passing and him just hanging out in the neighborhood and avoiding the traps, we just didn't know what to do. We also have 12 cats, 10 of whom were rescued from outside (five by us and five by organizations that we adopted them from) who we needed to focus on as well, but we just couldn't give up on getting BW. After 2 1/2 weeks of being lost, after that horrible day that we thought was the beginning of his new life when he got out at the vet, we got a call early in the morning along with a picture that the couple who wanted to help and put out a trap got him!!!! We contacted them right away and asked them to zip tie the trap, which they gladly did and Mike picked him up. The vet was unable to see him for a couple of days, so with the assistance of the volunteer trapper Mike got him into the bigger dog cage again so he could move around and it was zip tied like Fort Knox. We were not losing him again after all we'd been through! Two days later he was at the vet to be checked out and neutered. Mike got the call... BW was FIV positive, had an abscess on his foot from an animal bite, had an infected tooth that need to be extracted and was covered in scars from his past years of surviving outside. There was no way after all he'd been through that we were giving up on him now and Mike told them to continue with whatever care he needed. After all was said and done he left the vet neutered with a tooth extracted and a drain in his foot that needed to be removed in a few days. Oh boy, we had to get him back to the vet AGAIN. That proved to be quite the process as the first time Mike was unable to get him into a carrier even with sedation. After much thought and with input from a helpful neighbor he was able to McGyver a way to get him into the carrier and back to the vet for hopefully the LAST time for a long time. When he was home and back into his kitty condo, we could finally breathe and start the long journey of integrating him into our family. Lucky number 13!!! The inn is officially closed as we have reached capacity in more ways than one. BW is safe and loved in his kitty condo with space and a window. We are slowly beginning the process of seeing if he will trust humans again. We use a stick with a soft cloth attached to pet him and he is slowly becoming receptive to it and leaning into it. He will hiss if approached too quickly (understandably and we are employing every type of relaxation/stress relief method and natural remedy to help relieve his anxiety over his new life.) And with the use of a low dose of gabapentin he seems to be doing pretty good. A lot of truly feral cats are fixed and then let back out to live out their life, but because of BW having FIV we cannot do that for the safety of other cats that may be indoor/outdoor pets and could contract it from a bite if there was a scuffle. We will devote the time and effort to give BW the best life and feel with time and patience he will come around and be a part of our cat family. We know it can be a VERY long road, but he is worth it. We also have made amazing progress with our cat Oscar that lived outside for 10 years and we adopted him from a New York City rescue. You can read his story on Instagram @oscarsnewworld. All that being said our devotion and love for our furbabies is a huge part of our life. BW was an unexpected expense and between the trail cam, the ink cartridges, the vet bills and lots of other things throughout this journey of rescuing, losing and retrapping we could certainly use a little help. His bills totaled almost $2000 and then right after we got him back another one of our cats Tango developed a tooth infection with another vet bill of $1200 with two teeth extracted. Let me be clear, we are not destitute. We are like a lot of people dealing with a huge change in the cost of everything including the doubling of the price of cat food over the last few years. We average $740 a month for the cost of cat food and litter is on top of that. We have chosen to give up things in order to provide for our cats. Our home is pretty much all about them. There is a story behind each one and how we ended up with so many. Some we couldn't turn our backs on and others needed the love and care we could provide, along with the death of my father who had two that we took in and have since had to say goodbye to one. As the plaque that hangs in our kitchen given to me by a friend says"Saving one cat does not change the world, but for that one cat the world changes forever"