Rusty’s Story

Rusty lives in the Green Twp. area and is a community cat. He is cared for by a 10 year old little girl named Leah. Leah cares for a couple other community cats too; however, Rusty is her newest addition. Responsibly, her neighborhood gets these cats spay/neutered, provides nutrition and outdoor housing for these lucky felines.

Recently, Rusty came home dragging his leg. Apparent that it was useless, they contacted Pay It Forward For Pets for help. Crating this independent guy wasn’t the easiest; however, with Leah’s help PIFFP was able to get the cat transported to Dr. Lisa Wilson at Animal and Avian Medical Center in Brunswick (we love this doctor!!!). After x-rays and rest, it was apparent that Rusty’s leg could not be saved. After all, he’d been shot with a pellet gun and the pellet injured his spine which caused nerve damage and the leg dropped.

What to do? This isn’t an owned cat. Do we responsibly spend donor dollars to treat this young feline? The answer was an easy one … yes! Why? Because we had a healthy cat that would adapt to 3 legs, we had a 10 year old little girl that loves Rusty and was caring for him properly and, lastly, this effort had “lessons” written all over it for the neighborhood children.

As Rusty endured his surgery to remove the leg and convalesce, PIFFP and little Leah went to work on a flyer about Trap-Neuter-Release and community cats. Leah blanketed her neighborhood with the information and a picture of Rusty with his amputated leg. She told the story of him being shot and asked that any family possessing a pellet gun to “please” have a conversation with everybody in the home about kindness and compassion for orphaned pets.

In closing, Rusty is now an “owned” pet and will, no doubt, get to live to love his nine lives. Do you agree with our decision to help Rusty? We want your feedback and opinions. Please visit our website at www.payitforwardforpets.org to make a donation to the “Critical Care Fund” to help the many cats out there that we get calls on that need pain-alleviating treatment – like Rusty. Contributions can be mailed to: PIFFP Office, 2136 Yellowcreek Road, Akron, OH 44333. Notation: “Feral/Community Cats.”

We thank you … and the animals thank you too.