Nine-month-old outgoing Fluffy and his more reclusive 21-year-old “brother” are still looking for their forever homes.
The two abandoned cats were found trapped inside a sealed plastic bin next to a dumpster near the Mission Ridge Animal Hospital Wednesday.
Since their rescue, the felines have been given full medicals and Fluffy has been granted a clean bill of health. He has been vaccinated, neutered and micro-chipped and is resting and recovering before he is adopted out to a suitable home. His un-named bin-mate has also undergone a medical, and aside from having some issues with his right eye, he too has a clean bill of health. The clinic has been treating his eye and they are seeing improvements already.
A dozen people have already volunteered to give the cats a new home. The clinic says it is still taking applications for the cats and is considering both options of keeping the cats together and separating them.
Fluffy is friendly and playful and loves attention, while the older cat is a bit shy and keeps to himself. The cats have spent time together in the same cage at the clinic and are not always the best of friends, but that could possibly be due to the trauma of being trapped in the bin together.
Their plight was brought to the attention of the animal hospital when a man driving through the parking lot found the bin beside a dumpster. The tub had a note taped to the top explaining that there were two cats inside. The box had no air holes and it was tightly sealed with duct tape. The man took the bin inside the hospital, and sure enough, inside were two distressed cats.
“They were pretty scared in that box,” hospital manager Debra Briton said. “We do not know how long the cats were in it. We are just very fortunate when someone found them when they did. If they had been left in that box for very much longer there is a good chance they would have suffocated. They were very warm, distressed and covered in urine. “
The note attached to the box opened with “I’m so sorry” and continued on to explain why the owner could no longer keep the cats, despite the fact that she loved them very much.
“We certainly don’t think she meant any harm to the cats,” Briton said. “It just wasn’t a very well thought-out solution to her problems. There are much better options as far as being in a desperate state regarding pets.”
Briton says that there are many organizations prepared to help people in apparently hopeless situations with their animals. The Edmonton Humane Society, other rescue agencies or even a someone in the animal health-care field would always be willing to help a family relocate pets.
“It’s about turning to the right people for help and guidance on how to approach the problem,” Briton said.
Mission Ridge has contacted the Alberta SPCA to inform them of the situation but the SPCA is unable to pursue the situation because the owner didn’t leave a name or contact information.
The cats, meanwhile, are currently resting comfortably at the hospital. To contact the Mission Ridge Animal Hospital in regard to adopting the cats please email [email protected] or visit its Facebook page. The clinic expects to choose new parents for the cats late next week.
