CHRYSANTHEMUM Domestic Short Hair Grand Rapids, MI

Volunteer Patti F. and her family are very well versed in this whole stray cat thing, as living out in the country has brought them many a cat over the years; this summer however they found themselves coming across several ill or injured kitties that needed medical attention. Such was the case with Chrysanthemum, a young mother (born in the spring of 2015) who ended up on their property sickly, swollen and very skittish. Seems that another Saranac stray had taken an extreme dislike to Chryssy, biting her on the right side of her face and causing a major abscess that not only affected her jaw but the inside of her mouth and underneath her tongue as well. The strange thing about the whole injury was that instead being able to lance the site and drain pus from it externally, the abscess drained internally, down the poor girl’s throat, eliciting one helluva gag reflex as you can imagine. How another cat was able to bite her in the location it did takes quite a bit of unheard of talent, and thankfully Patti was able to rescue her when she did; I can only imagine what a world of hurt our poor little girl would have been in had this been allow to fester for a few days longer. Given her frantic nature when in the presence of strangers at first, we suspect the ONLY way they were able to catch her and bring her in to safety was simply because she was so ill she didn’t have the energy to put up a fight. But I can tell ya this: after her spay and wound treatment, coupled with heavy-duty antibiotics and narcotics, Chryssy was rip-roaring mad at me and not afraid to show it (yes, that is the thanks I get:)

I let her room with another terribly shy guy while she recovered at the clinic in the hopes that his tender timidness would rub off on her, but unfortunately within a day of arrival at Crash’s she turned her fear of the unknown into aggression and chomped down on our cat care director’s hand, drawing blood and mandating she be placed under ‘house arrest’ for the next ten days. It was so rough going at first that she became extremely violent when anyone so much as attempted to approach her. Over the next few weeks though, as she grew more comfortable in her surroundings and realized that we are not the bad guys, her attitude changed and she was able to finally move past her disdain and hatred of humans. In fact, we were able to give up the bite-proof gloves when handling her, and even though she is far from fond of any of us two legged creatures, she is smitten with other kittens and is ALWAYS found snuggled up close to one cat or another (or two or three!) We believe that it is though our kindness towards her kitty companions that Chryssy is learning what it feels like to be loved unconditionally, and we know that patience and kindness will win her over. We are taking baby steps and asking her to toddle on after us towards a more peaceful coexistence; we are confident that her roommates will show her the way—and we are happy with whatever pace she sets for herself. We have no expectations of her other than to let her guard down and allow us to show her what compassion and tenderness is all about; if it takes weeks, months or even years, that is fine by us—we aren’t going anywhere and she can stay here as long as she pleases!