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Cat that was shot in face is finally back home
Three weeks of medical care, four operations, at least $11,000 in bills
Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
Published: Tuesday, January 08, 2008It has taken four operations, more than three weeks of intensive veterinary care and at least $11,000, but Napoleon is finally back with his owners.
The five-year-old ginger tabby, who was shot in the face at point-blank range near his Broadmead home, is still struggling with a feeding tube, a splint to keep his shattered jaw in place and owners wondering how to pay the bills.
But, the good news is he's starting to act like a cat again, said owner Lou Frechette.
View Larger ImageMia Starcevic with her cat Napoleon.
Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist
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"He's up to his usual tricks, like when I make animal shadows on the floor, he will chase them," he said.
After returning to Vancouver Island last weekend from a Vancouver veterinary critical care hospital, Napoleon was allowed to try a few mouthfuls of real food.
"When I tried to take away the bowl, he grabbed it with his paws," said Frechette, who was given Napoleon as a kitten by his wife Mia Starcevic.
Napoleon seems blissfully unaware that he has twice cheated death.
In mid-December, Frechette returned to his Faithwood Road home to find a bloodied Napoleon hiding under a bed.
Veterinarians concluded he had been picked up and shot in the face.
Frechette believes, from fragments removed from the cat's face, that a
short .22 bullet was used, not a pellet gun, as was originally thought.
"It was copper-coated - pellets are usually just lead - and the fragments are larger than they would have been from a pellet," he said.
The next life-threatening crisis came after Napoleon was picked up from hospital Dec. 22 - when Frechette discovered that portion of the bill was $8,900 instead of the expected $5,000 - and the cat almost immediately broke his face splint and had to return to hospital.
"We couldn't afford any more. It's a lot of money when you have a mortgage and, at that point, we said we had to cut our losses and euthanize him," said Frechette, 36, who does data entry for a courier company. "We were in tears. It was just a horrible thought," he said.
However, Napoleon was reprieved after veterinarians agreed to treat him without charge.
Meanwhile, two fundraising efforts are underway to help pay the medical bills.
Norma McAllister, who arranged a 90-day victim trust account through Coast Capital Savings Credit Union, said the fund stands at $2,428 and she is hoping, with the escalating bills, that more donations will come in.
McAllister said she was outraged that someone would commit such an act and, when she found there was no simple way for people to donate, she asked Coast Capital for help in setting up a fund.
Carol Broad, webmaster for Victoria Adoptables, has organized an online auction that will run until Jan. 18, with items ranging from dog training classes to pole dancing lessons.
"It was such an outrageous act, we thought we would like to help out," said Broad.
Victoria Adoptables is also offering a $250 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Saanich police Sgt. John Price said there is no new information about the identity of the shooter and the next step will probably be Crime Stoppers.
"We received all sorts of e-mails from people wanting to help, but no concrete information," he said.
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Spending whatever it takes to keep a friend healthy
Dedicated pet owners are often willing to spend whatever it takes to make their surrogate children healthy.
Veterinary care is usually the single, biggest expense of pet ownership and, although an increasing number of owners are buying pet health insurance, others struggle to pay big bills after Fluffy or Fido gets sick.
The average annual cost of owning a dog in Canada is $1,065 and $836 for a cat, said Kristin Wood, Canadian Veterinary Association spokeswoman. "That includes vet visits, food and gifts," she said.
However, it does not include accidents, complicated operations or serious illnesses that will require a lifetime of medication.
"That's why I have pet insurance," Wood said.
Across the country, costs vary widely, with some elaborately equipped urban clinics open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and other rural clinics open part-time.
"Sometimes the public doesn't understand what it costs to equip an animal hospital. It is similar to a human hospital," said Val Osborne, B.C. Veterinary Medical Association registrar.
Costs vary with region depending on staff overheads, leases and equipment, but it is rarely cheap.
At the Pacific Cat Clinic in Victoria, the daily cost of keeping a cat at the intensive care level is $303, not including surgery, said Sally Staples, medical vet assistant.
As a rough estimate, if the surgery costs $1,000, the entire cost is likely to be between $2,000 and $3,000, she said.
Most clients at the Pacific Cat Clinic do not hesitate about opting for medical care, partially because anyone coming to a cat specific clinic is likely to be a cat lover, Staples said.
"One of the things we find is that pets are no longer just animals and they are not just family members. They are children to us, so the cost is secondary and the primary concern is quality of care," she said.
"The bonds between people and pets are very, very strong."
Often the relationship with pets is one of the few constants in life and lasts longer than a job or partner, Staples said.
"I have had my cat for 15 years and I've never had a relationship that has gone that long," she said.
Some people argue there are many cats in shelters needing homes and it makes no sense to spend thousands of dollars keeping a particular animal alive.
"That might sound compelling if you don't have that bond, but a relationship is not replaceable, it's unique," Staples said.
jlavoie@tc.canwest.com
