Sad story of Hamlet (distressing content)
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:56 pm
So...... Some of you may remember Hamlet, the orange and white kitten dumped in a box at my old vets, who ended up with me...... A great little chap, who grew up being called "Fatty Ham-ham" as he was always so chubby........
Well, he went missing a while back. No sign of him ANYWHERE, and I was terribly worried as he was a real home bird. I searched and searched to no avail, for a week.
Then, 7 days after he was last seen, we were going to the Supermarket and I spotted something in the neighbouring farmer's field, behind the hedge on our lane. I made hubby stop the car and clambered over the gate as I thought it was Hamlet's dead body.
He was there, with his head stuck fast in an empty dogfood tin..... Still very much alive. I pulled the tin off his head. I carried him home, got him into a carrier, and straight to the emergency vet (it was a Sunday). I held him as a catheter was inserted. He was to be sedated anyway, but his blood pressure was already very low and sedatives would have made it impossible to find a vein, and IV fluids were crucial at this point. He was emaciated and completely dehydrated. He also had maggots in his ears.
I stayed till he was asleep. The vet rang me 15 minutes later. She had shaved him (to check for more maggots). The maggots had eaten him alive. They had literally eaten away his anus and penis. Nothing was left of either. I have seen his medical notes and HORRIFIC is on there in capital letters. So, I told her to go ahead and euthanise him.
Darling Hamlet went through the worst suffering I can possibly imagine. If he had been a Chinese cat, skinned alive, then at least he would have died quicker. His head was stuck in that tin for a WHOLE WEEK. He could only walk backwards. He couldn't hear me calling him. I couldn't hear his cries of pain, fear, agony........ As he was eaten alive.
PLEASE crush all food tins, and break all glass jars before recycling/disposing. I have always done this as my uncle once found a dog with his head stuck in a tin. It is just second nature to me. I don't know where that tin came from. It wasn't the farmer who owns the field (who has stolen one of my cats and put a collar one her).
That farmer ADORES cats, and I have helped him with TNR as he couldn't keep bringing kittens home to sleep on his head.
The worst part? That same farmer saw Hamlet 2 days prior to me finding him. From a distance. He said to his co-worker "there is rubbish in the field, I better go get it", but got too busy and forgot to go pick up the "rubbish". He was so so upset when we told him...... And he now checks for tons and crushes them religiously.......
Well, he went missing a while back. No sign of him ANYWHERE, and I was terribly worried as he was a real home bird. I searched and searched to no avail, for a week.
Then, 7 days after he was last seen, we were going to the Supermarket and I spotted something in the neighbouring farmer's field, behind the hedge on our lane. I made hubby stop the car and clambered over the gate as I thought it was Hamlet's dead body.
He was there, with his head stuck fast in an empty dogfood tin..... Still very much alive. I pulled the tin off his head. I carried him home, got him into a carrier, and straight to the emergency vet (it was a Sunday). I held him as a catheter was inserted. He was to be sedated anyway, but his blood pressure was already very low and sedatives would have made it impossible to find a vein, and IV fluids were crucial at this point. He was emaciated and completely dehydrated. He also had maggots in his ears.
I stayed till he was asleep. The vet rang me 15 minutes later. She had shaved him (to check for more maggots). The maggots had eaten him alive. They had literally eaten away his anus and penis. Nothing was left of either. I have seen his medical notes and HORRIFIC is on there in capital letters. So, I told her to go ahead and euthanise him.
Darling Hamlet went through the worst suffering I can possibly imagine. If he had been a Chinese cat, skinned alive, then at least he would have died quicker. His head was stuck in that tin for a WHOLE WEEK. He could only walk backwards. He couldn't hear me calling him. I couldn't hear his cries of pain, fear, agony........ As he was eaten alive.
PLEASE crush all food tins, and break all glass jars before recycling/disposing. I have always done this as my uncle once found a dog with his head stuck in a tin. It is just second nature to me. I don't know where that tin came from. It wasn't the farmer who owns the field (who has stolen one of my cats and put a collar one her).
That farmer ADORES cats, and I have helped him with TNR as he couldn't keep bringing kittens home to sleep on his head.
The worst part? That same farmer saw Hamlet 2 days prior to me finding him. From a distance. He said to his co-worker "there is rubbish in the field, I better go get it", but got too busy and forgot to go pick up the "rubbish". He was so so upset when we told him...... And he now checks for tons and crushes them religiously.......