One night in October of 2011 my cat Chester didn't come home. I had last seen him at 5:00 pm Wednesday. Shortly after he went out to explore the woods I heard a gunshot. It's a rural area and it's common. I didn't worry the next morning when he didn't come in for breakfast. He will sometimes take a long hunting trip in the area. But after a day I was worried. I called & called and finally at 10:00 pm Thursday night he stumbled down the little hill of my backyard holding his front left leg completely up and collapsed. I ran over. I could see blood and a small hole. I picked him up & the leg just dangled. I rushed him inside,placed him on his favorite blanket on the couch & began trying to find a 24 hour clinic. After several unanswered calls I got the number for AA Small animal Hospital in Lexington. While I was on the phone Chester managed to get off the couch & climb the stairs. He was scared & hurting badly. He was trying to get to his nest in the attic. I guess it's just his animal instincts that were telling him to get there for comfort & security. (continued below video)
You see, Chester was abandoned by the previous home owner when they lost the old house five years ago. I found the house about four years ago. After signing a contract on it I would go down on my lunch break to plan my renovations. One day I was standing in the car port and this big cat came bounding under the fence and ran right up to me. He instantly rubbed on my legs and purred. At this point in my life I hated cats but this big guy just really instantly bonded with me. I'm not sure what it was about him but I liked this cat. I fed him what was left of my lunch then went back to work. He just sat in the carport looking at me as I drove away. The next day I came back to the house. I opened the door and the cat ran out! Although it was a month from closing I had signed a contract. I was very upset because I thought my Realtor was still showing the house. I was curious as to why the cat was let in but I didn't think much about it until the next day when I went back and once again the cat was in the house! My Realtor swore she had not been there. She even called the other agents to make sure they were not showing it. No one had been there but this this big orange cat was in the house everyday. So that's how it went for a month. I'd go down, the cat would be in the House. I'd share my lunch with him every day and on Fridays I'd leave him a big pile of food until I could make it back on Monday. It was in January so the Realtor let me go ahead and put the electric in my name. I turned the heat on inside for the cat so he wouldn't freeze. The house finally closed and I moved in that February. It took me a week but I finally was able to find out how he did it. There was still an old door in the very back of the house where an old porch used to be. The cat was knocking this door open. Once inside he would climb the exposed insulation straight up and crawl through the space between the original roof and where they had built on over the porch. This led him to the attic where he had hollowed out a space in the insulation to sleep when it was too cold outside. Then he would just pop open the attic doors to get in the house when he pleased. He could get back out the same way but it was harder so he waited for me to come let him out everyday! This cat was 22 pounds & had been living on his own for at least 7 months! He hunted on the hills & the attached horse farm.He seemed to have plenty to eat, he was just lonely. So he sought me out. I don't know why it was
me. He's still shy around others & typically runs from most people. This cat is very much the feline version of me. I guess that's why we get along so well. He greets me at the door if he's inside. If he's outside he will meet me at my truck when I get home from work. He defends my garden from pests and keeps my house rodent free. He will bring me gifts from time to time. I've added a few cats to the clan and he has become their adopted father, teaching them to hunt and explore. Even my three legged kitten Roo can hold his own. Last year I had back & knee surgery. Chester would lay in bed next to me and keep me warm on cold nights and comfort me when the pain was unbearable. When I was stuck in the bed for a few days he would even bring me food! Sure I don't have a taste for birds & mice but he was trying to make sure I ate! He takes care of me as much as I take care of him.
me. He's still shy around others & typically runs from most people. This cat is very much the feline version of me. I guess that's why we get along so well. He greets me at the door if he's inside. If he's outside he will meet me at my truck when I get home from work. He defends my garden from pests and keeps my house rodent free. He will bring me gifts from time to time. I've added a few cats to the clan and he has become their adopted father, teaching them to hunt and explore. Even my three legged kitten Roo can hold his own. Last year I had back & knee surgery. Chester would lay in bed next to me and keep me warm on cold nights and comfort me when the pain was unbearable. When I was stuck in the bed for a few days he would even bring me food! Sure I don't have a taste for birds & mice but he was trying to make sure I ate! He takes care of me as much as I take care of him.
It was the worst 30 minutes of my life driving him from my house to the hospital in Lexington. He was weak and in so much pain. He cried mournfully the whole way there. The vets at AA Hospital got him in and gave him pain meds which helped so much. I could hear him crying all the way out in the lobby until the medicine kicked in. His x-rays showed a .22 bullet had entered his left front shoulder. It shattered his left shoulder. Part of the bullet traveled all the way down this inside of his leg and stopped in his foot. The rest broke up and was lodged near his chest, one piece traveling all the way across and exiting his right shoulder. At first it looked like he would loose the leg. But the orthopedic Dr. said it looked like he could save it. He has to put in artificial bone grafts, plates & pins but he thought Chester would be able to walk again. If it had to be amputated I truly believe he would die since he would not be able to roam the hills & hunt in the hills where he grew . Three days after the surgery all was looking good but then Chester went in to acute congestive heart failure. As well he refused to eat & would spit up the food they gave him so he hadn't eaten in almost a week. This was causing fatty liver disease. They put him on oxygen & several meds he pulled through. They also put in a nasal feeding tube. The surgery was expensive. Chester, like many Americans, has no insurance. Oddly enough the hospital takes "Care Credit" . That's a medical credit card. I have an account with them already from my back surgery. I need another surgery on my back for a pinched nerve that causes me great pain, I was planning on having that in December. I am sacrificing my back now to pay for Chester's surgery. I'm more than happy to do this because this cat means more to me & is far more human than the piece of garbage that shot him & left him to suffer & die in the woods alone behind my house.
Sadly after all that, the initial bone surgery failed. The vet said his bones were too shattered & the pins holding the bone graft came out. This tenacious little cat still fought on and was able to come home three days after the heart failure occurred. He had a regiment of five medications & I had to feed him formula four times a day in his feeding tube. It was hard because I'm single but I managed to keep on his schedule.
I already live a a very strict budget because the IRS decided that the freelance videos I had done for a few charities were not deductible so I got stuck recently with a $10K tax bill. Now with Chester's Vet bill I am really in a pinch. Especially since I can't get my back fixed, I can't get a night job in order to help with the bills. I decided to sacrifice my only great possession, my Harley! About 2 weeks ago Chester started having breathing problems.I was afraid it wasfrom the congestive heart failure so I needed to rush him back to the Vet. I had someone interested in my bike that day as well. I needed to move her under the carport because there was a chance for a shower later. It had been a week since any rain & had been a beautiful sunny 70 degree day. However what I didn't know was that the farm next door had spilled a bunch of water they were hauling and it had run in to my yard. As I turned the bike around I hit the wet grass and the bike flew out from under me. This did about $1000 worth of damage to the bike & hurt my knee & back. I have insurance but I have no way to pay the deductible due to the other bills. Now it can't be ridden & nobody will buy it. I got Chester back to the vet where the took out his nasal feeding tube, which was causing him to get congested. They put in a esophageal tube instead. While he spent the night in the Vet ER, I spent it in the ER getting my back & knee checked out.
So now it's 2 weeks later. I'm still in a lot of pain but Chester is doing much better. He still has the feeding tube & still can't use the leg to walk on but his health has improved. I wrap up his tube so he can't get it torn or dirty & he still goes out and relaxes in the sun. Lately he's even ventured up in to the woods. He can't go too far and he's not too fast but it improves his spirits to get out. He can use the muscles of the bad leg so he'll stretch and claw with it, he just can't put weight on it. In a few weeks once his health is back at 100% the Vet says he can try to repair the leg again since the bone has healed more. However, they won't do it unless you pay at the time of service. This means another possible $3-4K that I have no way of paying. I'm just scraping by as it is. I put this page up telling Chester's story. I have a PayPal account set up if people would like to make a donation. I'm trying to raise about $9K to help cover costs. If you could please spread the word about this to help us out. I'll be posting videos soon. As well Chester's Facebook Page will have updates about he is doing.
Donations
You can click the DONATE link for PayPal or us the ChipIn link. Please Donate so Chester can feel like his old self again! Thank You so much, your help is greatly appreciated!