The words you don't want to hear from your vet: “Your cat has been shot”.
Friday 18 November 2022 at 18h28, one of our foster moms received a message from a frantic adopter asking for advice about her cat. One year old Jack, a friendly loving tabby male, had been adopted from CatzRus early in 2022. His sister, Aurora, was adopted together with him by the same family. Aurora died mysteriously a few months ago on the same property – near Nkwe Resort in Tierpoort. The poor owner was heartbroken that Jack was now also clearly injured.
Jack had just come inside with blood all over his nose. They thought at first that it might be a snake bite or cat fight wound, but at the vet, the owner was told the awful news that this was a wound from a high velocity air gun pellet. The pellet was still inside Jack, lodged in his throat, behind his vocal cords. The outlook wasn't good, but Jack wasn't giving up so easily.
Drs Andrew and Patricia Comins at Moreleta Ridge Animal Clinic immediately hospitalised Jack and put him on life-sustaining support for the weekend.
Dotsure Pet Insurance was approached and they agreed to donate towards the very complex surgery that Jack was going to need.
Together Moreleta Ridge Animal Clinic and DotSure Pet insurance agreed to help us save Jack twice – the first time when he and his mom and siblings were dumped in Kleinfontein and taken into CatzRus foster care, and again when he was shot in his home garden near Nkwe.
On Monday morning, Jack was still fighting for his life, but he was more stable. After consultation with other veterinary specialists, Jack was transferred to Onderstepoort Animal Hospital for further scans and x-rays and possible surgery.
It was discovered that Jack's bullet miraculously entered between his eyes, missed his sinuses, missed critical nerves around his eyes and face, missed his vocal cords and all the pipes and tubes needed to eat and drink and breathe. Jack was eating and drinking by himself. Apart from a slight cough, Jack was doing exceptionally well!
After careful study of the scans, it was decided that the best option was to leave Jack's pellet right where it is. Jack was kept under observation until Wednesday when he was discharged into the arms of his loving and very relieved owner. The Police and SPCA have opened an investigation regarding the shooting of an air-gun rifle in a residential area. We ask that if anyone has any information that could aid in the investigation and the prosecution of the person who did this to Jack (and we now suspect to Aurora too), please let us know. We also wish to clarify that Jack was in his own garden at the time of the shooting.
Thank you is such a small word to express our enormous gratitude to “Team Jack”! To Dr Andrew and Dr Patricia at Moreleta Ridge Animal Clinic: for always being there for us; for fighting alongside us for our rescue kitties; for your compassionate wisdom; your professional expertise and your willingness to go the extra miles – Thank you! Without you we could not have saved Jack twice – or even once.
To Dotsure Pet Insurance: for your willingness to step in and donate towards saving Jack even though he was not insured, thank you! We really appreciate it and will certainly be looking into Pet Insurance here forward. To the team at Onderstepoort Animal Hospital: for all you did for Jack, thank you! We appreciate your time and generosity and expertise and your heart for saving animals.
And to Jack: for your fighting spirit and for giving us the happy ending our hearts were longing for .
Thank you for letting us save you twice. Stories like yours make all the hard work of rescue worthwhile!
Jack, soon after the shooting
Jack discharged and back with his owner