Orion

The past few days have been pretty busy.  On Sunday afternoon, I found a post on FB from my sister-in-law about a senior cat on death row at NYC Animal Control.  He’s 16 years old, an owner surrender.  I just can’t fathom surrendering a 16-year-old cat to a shelter.  If the shelter didn’t euthanize him, he was certainly die alone.  Let’s face the facts – city-run shelters overcrowd easily, hence why all of them euthanize.  (I say all because I have never heard of a city-run shelter not euthanizing.  If you know one, please comment on this post and prove me wrong.  This is like the one time I would love to be wrong!)  If by chance, he managed to stay off the kill-list for more than a week, it would be likely that health complications would arise.  I’ve seen senior cats at the shelter come down with severe depression.  In turn the cat’s immune system weakens and something serious sets in.  One time a cat, MooMoo, was so heartbroken by being dumped at START II by his companion, he entered this state of depressions.  He came down with such a bad case of conjunctivitis that his eye ulcerated and needed to be removed.  After he was in foster care post-surgery, he developed FIP.  The whole ordeal was traumatizing for MooMoo (who rapidly declined within 48 hour and need to be put to sleep) and the volunteers.  But, MooMoo’s story is another blog post.

I knew that if this kitty (whom was named Uno) remained at the shelter, no one would adopt him.  I couldn’t bear the thought of Uno sitting in a shelter awaiting death alone.  I shared the post with Ron.  My sis-in-law got me info to be considered for adopting Uno.  It was a process similar to other shelters/rescues with a pre-screener, interview, and contract.  To be perfectly honest, since Juno and Apollo’s crossing the Rainbow Bridge, it really hasn’t been the same without the presence of an older, wizened kitty here.  Granted, Pandora is ten, it’s not the same as being sixteen.

NYC Urgent Cats contacted me within a couple of hours after I filled the pre-screener.  By evening’s end, I was in contact with Heather, director of cat rescue at AmsterDog Rescue.  It was going to be a race against time to get Uno out of the shelter.

While I was rearranging my schedule at START II planning to take a ride to Harlem, I was informed that Uno could be delivered to me.  I sorta did a double-take over the phone.  That was not something I was expecting.  There’s a group called Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, in which adopted rescues are transported to their new homes within the tri-state area! So, Heather made all the calls to the right people and prevented Uno from being on the following morning’s kill list.  She also arranged his transport with Mayor’s Alliance to my apartment.  And she metaphorically held my hand throughout the entire process.  Which I needed.  I was an emotional mess.

Uno arrived yesterday afternoon, just after 2pm.  When I brought him to his room, he was scared.  His fur was matted severely, he was all bone, and beelined for the water bowl.  I can’t imagine how his previous owners treated him.  I was less than impressed with their answers on a questionnaire included with his medical paperwork.  I spent all afternoon with him.  He circled the room a few times, getting the lay of the land.  Each time he circled around, his tail was held higher.  So happy to see that.  He loves to give head butts.  This morning, he was waiting by the door.  When I opened it, he looked up at me and meowed.  Uno loves attention! And he’s gonna get plenty here.

The next task was renaming him.  While Uno certainly described his ear “situation,” it sounded too much like Juno and we couldn’t have that.  We settled on Orion, after the huntsman that Zeus put in the night sky.

Orion has a geriatric vet visit on Friday morning.  He’s gonna get the works!  I have a feeling he has hyperthyroidism, but the vet will determine in a couple of days.

Until then… Here’s a quick picture I snapped with my phone.  Not the greatest of quality, but 1 hour after his arrival.

Orion an hour after being home.

And I would also like to extend a huge THANK YOU to my sis-in-law, Nikki, Heather @ AmsterDog, and all the kind folks at NYC Urgent Cats and Mayor’s Alliance.  Without your help, Orion wouldn’t have had a second chance!