BEAUTY
Beauty came to Rikki’s many years ago. She’d already had a long history before she arrived. She’d been a breeder and lived the first part of her life in a cage cranking out babies as fast as she could. That was her only value to her owners. No love, no affection, just a baby machine.
When the cattery closed down she was sold cheap to somebody cuz she was old and worn out. She wasn’t very trusting of people. She was frightened. She didn’t know how to behave as a pet. When she’d get upset or frightened she’d reach out and scratch.
So they had her toes cut off. Along with her claws. The euphemism for this is de-clawing. They should call it de-toeing, as they take the last joint off. This causes a great deal of pain. Not only after the surgery but often forever. Walking on feet you have trouble balancing on puts weight in all the wrong places and it hurts. Scratching your litter can hurt. It’s a serious injury that never heals well.
And it leaves psychological scars. Now unable to scratch when frightened, kitties often turn to biting. That’s what Beauty did. She bit. And so she was hit for biting. Has life been better in a tiny cage, giving birth over and over again and being patted only occasionally or now in a home that “loved” her yet cut her toes off and then hit her when she was frightened?
It didn’t matter, because soon she was in the pound, slated to be killed. Another rescue group stepped in here thinking they could adopt out this beautiful gal. With more trauma behind her now, Beauty was even less trusting and this time she was going to lash out and bite before these hoomans could do anything bad to her. She didn’t yet understand that there are good hoomans.
Trying for months to rehab her, the rescue group finally gave up and Beauty was lucky to come to Rikki’s Refuge. She was a resident of Cat House Number 3, The Friendly Biters. These are kitties just like her, who for one reason or another, are frightened of hoomans and bite to protect themselves. Many of these kitties are de-toe-ed kitties. Somebody cut their toes and claws off to make them soft and cuddly - and not they bite. Some of them will love you for a few minutes but as soon as they sense something off they bite without waiting to ask questions.
Beauty lived happily with the Biters for years and years. Sometimes she’d be loving. Sometimes she’d bite. Sometimes she’d walk up behind us and bite our ankles. Just because she could. At Rikki’s she was never hit and never told she was a bad kitty. We knew she had psychological problems that made her be like this.
Last winter she got sick and had to come into our hospital. She was very sick. And she’s quite elderly. We did not think she would survive. She needed a lot of nursing care and at first she’d bite. Then she was too weak to bite.
But a miracle happened and Beauty started to get better. And she biting got less and less and her loving got more and more. By the time she was totally recovered she was a love bug. Now don’t get me wrong, that fear still lurks in the back of her mind, so a sudden movement or something fearful can still get her hissing and biting. But overall she’s a wonderful loving lady.
She hated being in the 9th Life Center. She’d spend years out side in Cat House #3. But due to her age and problems, including a very bad heart murmur she needed the care of the 9th Life Center. And so she convinced the hoomans to let her be a mascot and go out. And she was happy. And she came back for her medicine twice a day. And the hoomans were happy.
Now she loves to follow people around. And she went on the
NEW YEARS DAY HIKE
It was many miles and over the river and thru the woods and when she got tired
What a wonderful day at Rikki’s Refuge!
From a Hiker:
Hi Kerry and Katarina! I want to tell you how much I enjoyed the hike today. It was quite fun and relaxing. I'll be sure to watch for the next one to be scheduled! I'm attaching a couple of photos of our mascot , Beauty. What a sweetheart and a trooper. :-)
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