~ THE WINDSOR LEGACY ~
Windsor Left His Mark on Our Hearts
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Windsor. Just the mention of his name can still bring tears to our eyes. Windsor epitomized what we love about cats; their strength, their fortitude, and their ability to remain good, despite terrible hardships. Windsor will continue to live in our memory for years to come and will fuel our passion to help the cats of Philadelphia.
We first met Windsor when we were doing a trapping project on Windsor Street in Southwest Philadelphia in an area overrun with cats. Ultimately, we trapped close to 100 cats in his neighborhood, many of them sick or injured. Two of our volunteers even had the terrible experience of seeing a cat hit by a car while they were onsite. Overall, an all-around sad place for cats to live. |
The first day we met Windsor, he came strutting up to us like he owned the block. At that time, he was perfectly healthy and happy. Since he was in much better shape than the other cats and was already ear-tipped, meaning that he had already been fixed, he was rather low on our cat “triage” list. He also had a few “caretakers” who fed him during his regular visits and didn’t want us to take him so we agreed to leave him where he was.
A few months later, we received an urgent call from one of the neighbors on the block with whom we had left our number with. She told us about a cat on the block who was in terrible shape. We agreed to go out to pick up the cat but the person who called wasn’t comfortable containing him. It took us about four times of repeat visits before we were actually able to trap him. By the time we picked him up, he was truly quite close to death with multiple injuries and a wound that was filled with maggots. He was rushed to the hospital where he had to stay for a week just to get him stabilized.
After he was discharged from the hospital, we realized that this was the cat whose “caretakers” had convinced us to leave him there. Caretakers who wiped their hands of him when he started having issues and required responsibility. Caretakers who didn’t want anything more than a cool cat who would stop by for a pet and a bite of food. These caretakers did nothing to help him when he was lying in a yard dying with a dislocated shoulder, a fractured jaw, severe dental issues, an ulcerated eye, and a terrible upper respiratory infection. Not to mention that maggot-filled wound.
Money was never an issue in deciding Windsor’s fate as a very kind and generous individual agreed to cover whatever vet care he needed. However, we ultimately realized that he was too injured, sick, and broken to have any real quality of life going forward. His shoulder injury made it painful for him to walk but his overall health was so bad that he was a poor candidate for the extensive surgery he would need. His teeth were so rotten that he couldn’t eat and we couldn’t get the necessary extractions because of the risk of his fractured jaw shattering. His pain was so bad that we had to keep him on strong pain pills all the time to alleviate his suffering. Yet, through all of this, all he wanted was love and affection. The slightest bit of attention turned him into a loving, albeit drooling, purr machine. The decision to let him go to end his suffering was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make. It was made even harder because it could have been avoided if we had taken him with us that first day we met him.
There will always be differing opinions when it comes to how to handle friendly, outdoor cats that seem to be doing just fine outside. Windsor’s story explains why we question the wisdom of leaving a friendly cat outside where they will face constant threats to their well-being. We will never know exactly what happened to Windsor to cause his numerous injuries but we know it was nothing good. We also know that Windsor’s caretakers were not the ones who cried over him for hours, those tears were shed by those of us that rescued him and came to love him immensely during the short time we had with him.
Many super friendly and affectionate cats like Windsor were once pets who were kicked out, left behind, or otherwise displaced. Just because one human failed them doesn’t mean they should be sentenced to a lifetime on the streets. Windsor is a perfect example of how an outdoor cat can go from being healthy one day to dying just a short time later. The Cat Collaborative originated out of the desire to honor Windsor and cats just like him by ensuring that we do everything possible to give them the life they want and the life they deserve.
The first day we met Windsor, he came strutting up to us like he owned the block. At that time, he was perfectly healthy and happy. Since he was in much better shape than the other cats and was already ear-tipped, meaning that he had already been fixed, he was rather low on our cat “triage” list. He also had a few “caretakers” who fed him during his regular visits and didn’t want us to take him so we agreed to leave him where he was.
A few months later, we received an urgent call from one of the neighbors on the block with whom we had left our number with. She told us about a cat on the block who was in terrible shape. We agreed to go out to pick up the cat but the person who called wasn’t comfortable containing him. It took us about four times of repeat visits before we were actually able to trap him. By the time we picked him up, he was truly quite close to death with multiple injuries and a wound that was filled with maggots. He was rushed to the hospital where he had to stay for a week just to get him stabilized.
After he was discharged from the hospital, we realized that this was the cat whose “caretakers” had convinced us to leave him there. Caretakers who wiped their hands of him when he started having issues and required responsibility. Caretakers who didn’t want anything more than a cool cat who would stop by for a pet and a bite of food. These caretakers did nothing to help him when he was lying in a yard dying with a dislocated shoulder, a fractured jaw, severe dental issues, an ulcerated eye, and a terrible upper respiratory infection. Not to mention that maggot-filled wound.
Money was never an issue in deciding Windsor’s fate as a very kind and generous individual agreed to cover whatever vet care he needed. However, we ultimately realized that he was too injured, sick, and broken to have any real quality of life going forward. His shoulder injury made it painful for him to walk but his overall health was so bad that he was a poor candidate for the extensive surgery he would need. His teeth were so rotten that he couldn’t eat and we couldn’t get the necessary extractions because of the risk of his fractured jaw shattering. His pain was so bad that we had to keep him on strong pain pills all the time to alleviate his suffering. Yet, through all of this, all he wanted was love and affection. The slightest bit of attention turned him into a loving, albeit drooling, purr machine. The decision to let him go to end his suffering was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make. It was made even harder because it could have been avoided if we had taken him with us that first day we met him.
There will always be differing opinions when it comes to how to handle friendly, outdoor cats that seem to be doing just fine outside. Windsor’s story explains why we question the wisdom of leaving a friendly cat outside where they will face constant threats to their well-being. We will never know exactly what happened to Windsor to cause his numerous injuries but we know it was nothing good. We also know that Windsor’s caretakers were not the ones who cried over him for hours, those tears were shed by those of us that rescued him and came to love him immensely during the short time we had with him.
Many super friendly and affectionate cats like Windsor were once pets who were kicked out, left behind, or otherwise displaced. Just because one human failed them doesn’t mean they should be sentenced to a lifetime on the streets. Windsor is a perfect example of how an outdoor cat can go from being healthy one day to dying just a short time later. The Cat Collaborative originated out of the desire to honor Windsor and cats just like him by ensuring that we do everything possible to give them the life they want and the life they deserve.
