A ginger colored cat was found with a roll of duct tape around its neck. He was scared to look at the human, but the rescuers were determined to save him and turn his life around once again.
The cat was discovered living on the street in a California neighborhood with a large empty tape around its neck. Many people with Animal Control tried to capture him but they were unsuccessful.
That’s when Kimberly Saxelby and Chris Gattas decided to ride their horses to the site on Valentine’s Day, hoping to get the ginger cat to safety. “When we got there, we set up a trap just two feet away from him. He was lying under the car. We waited for an hour but we found out he didn’t come in because of the tape on his head, so we gave up trying to catch him with our net. After chasing him for a while and cornering him in an old barn, that’s when Chris was able to catch him with a net when he tried to run out,” Kimberly shared again.
Once the cat had calmed down a bit, they noticed the extent of the wound and believed the tape around its neck had been wrapped for months. “We actually thought there was a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ animal near the barn but it was actually the smell of ʀᴏᴛᴛɪɴɢ meat and infection from its neck.”
They rushed the cat to the Rancho Cucamonga animal shelter and immediately began medical treatment. “Little did we all know after we sedated him how bad his condition was until we cut the tape from his neck. It brought tears to my eyes because he couldn’t. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering this poor poor cat has had to go through for so long. He was so emaciated and dehydrated that he couldn’t eat properly with the tape on his head.”
inger boy to clean and immobilize the area around his entire neck and above his ears. “We named this handsome boy Valentine because that’s the day this cute little boy was saved.“
After the sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ, Valentine recovered and started eating normally without the tape around his neck. He is drinking water and staying hydrated. The brave kitten recovered and progressed better than anyone expected.
Valentine was a little wary and understandably irritated after an unimaginably long ordeal. They gave him a wild box to make him feel safer and more secure, and he was there most of the day.
As they find him a foster home, his attitude begins to change. His adoptive mother was able to pat him on the head, and gradually he began to enjoy human companionship. “She’s been through so much misery and pain and she deserves a loving home. I know that there was a time when this cat wasn’t afraid of humans and probably enjoyed human touch. “
They are determined to help Valentine learn to trust and love again.
A few days after Valentine moved into his new foster home, this happened… “As you can see Valentine is feeling comfortable in his new foster home. He seems to be adapting pretty quickly and that makes us very happy,” Kimberly said.