It didn't take long for Natalie Force to figure out something was seriously wrong with her cat, Mrs. Meow Meow, when Force got home from holiday on May 22.
"I talked to my hubby, and he said something was wrong with my cat's leg [and] that she was limping on it. And then on Thursday, he said he hadn’t seen her all day (on Wednesday)," she said.
Force believes no one mentioned anything to her because no one wanted to stress her out on her holiday, however, Mrs. Meow Meow wasn't missing for long. On Thursday morning, the cat was back when Force went outside.
"She was just meowing, and then I noticed her leg. After talking to my mother-in-law who is staying at the house here too. She had said my sister had stopped by on the Sunday prior. The cat was limping quite badly, and my sister tried to catch the cat, but the cat was hissing at her. My mother-in-law walked out to try to get to the cat, but she hissed at them too. She wasn’t really approachable. By the time I got home, I imagined she had been in pain, so she just let us get her and put her in a crate."
Force phoned around to book an appointment for Mrs. Meow Meow, without knowing what happened to her. She didn't know why she was limping and questioned if she was hit by a car, or attacked by a raccoon. Force just didn't know.
Eventually, she booked Ms. Meow Meow into the Campbell River Veterinary Hospital for an X-ray.
"They told me there was a pellet in her leg. I was confused because she didn’t look noticeably [shot], there was no blood, ripped fur, or scratches anywhere. I couldn't figure out what possibly could have happened to her." Force says.
She now believes Mrs. Meow Meow fell to the ground from some height after being shot, causing the break.
Mrs. Meow Meow required major surgery to her left femur bone and was given a 12-week recovery time. She will also have pins and wires permanently in the bone, with the risk of them migrating into her skin. If this migration happens, she will require another surgery. Along with medication, Mrs. Meow Meow is effectively on bed rest. The pellet is still in her leg.
Force has set up a GoFundMe page (https://shorturl.at/I7gg6) to help cover the costs of Mrs. Meow Meows surgery and recovery. Since she created the funding page, Force says a lot of people have reached out to her saying similar things have happened to their cats. Some have even been victims of poisoned water.
The Campbell River Veterinary Hospital is also accepting donations on behalf of Force. People can donate this way as walk-ins, by credit card payments over the phone, or e-transfers.
The Veterinary Hospital did not respond to questions before press time.
Sam Doherty, the manager of Coastland Vet says they have not seen an influx of cats or pets admitted to her clinic due to pellet shootings, but says she saw the GoFundMe page and wished Mrs. Meow Meow a speedy recovery.
"The best thing they can do honestly is keep them inside," says Doherty, when asked about how cat owners can keep their pets safe. "But, for a lot of existing outdoor cats, that's just not feasible. I would recommend obvious identification (collar, tag, tattoo), so the general public knows the cat is owned. If the outdoor cat is causing an issue, maybe then it would be easier to track down the owners and address them directly rather than reacting negatively to the cats themselves often in this negative manner.
"Other than clearly identifying that the cat is owned and ensuring they continue to return home (I usually recommend they return for meal times for example), I don't think there's much more that pet owners can do."