Meet Pico

Isn’t he sweet and cute?

On Friday after work I drove down to the garden to meet hubby, who had biked down earlier. Being that it was the start of the weekend I figured after watering the garden we’d go do something. Plans changed immediately once I arrived and met this little guy.

When I got out of the car and started walking towards our plot I could hear a cat cry. I thought maybe I was hearing things but I slowed down to hear again. Yes, the sound I’m hearing does sound like a cat in distress so I slowly started walking in the opposite direction of our plot to follow the cry. Poor Pico was the source of that cry. I found him lying in the grass by a fence running along the garden. He cried to me but wasn’t sure if I was friendly or not so he got ready to bolt just in case.

I slowly got near him telling him it was okay (you talk to animals too right?) and held out my hand so he could smell me. He let me pet him and boy was he instantly in love with me! I just kept telling him it was okay and scratching the top of his head (his body would then lean into my hand to get more lovin’) and while doing this I was trying to quickly spot what was wrong. At first glance he seemed fine but a kitty doesn’t nest in the grass, crying for nothing. And at this point, I didn’t even know if he was a boy or a girl.

I checked to see if it was a mama cat about to give birth but no. I didn’t see any blood or any obvious injuries so I coaxed the kitty out from behind the fence. He walked to me all the while wanting more petting. Again, couldn’t tell that anything was wrong but did discover he was a boy! He was just so friendly and sweet. I went to pick him up and that’s when I discovered he was injured. Underneath his front right leg was a gaping wound. Kinda freaked me out.

I coaxed him a little farther out in the open because holding him wasn’t an option with him but he clearly needed help. Poor kitty! He wasn’t limping or showing any other indication that he was injured when walking but I took it slow with him anyway. I just kept petting him and he just kept loving it. And he was making lots of biscuits! He’d be great working in a bakery he was making so many. Ha ha!
I could tell his wound was a little old even though it was still open. It wasn’t bleeding and the kitty’s white fur was stained brown from old blood. Even on his chin. It was so sad to know he was owied and for who knows how long.

Hubby was on the other side of the garden, too far away for me to yell without scaring kitty and the rest of nature or other gardeners (no one was close by either). Not sure he even knew I was there yet so I waited until he looked in my direction so I could flag him down. Until then, kitty and I hung out together becoming friends because I certainly couldn’t leave him. Finally, hubby was heading towards me so I called out to him to come over. He loves kitties almost as much as I do and nearly melted when he saw kitty.

We wanted to name him. Names related to where I found him or that were related to the park or gardening weren’t very catchy or cool. He did respond once when I called him Tom but that didn’t stick. Hubby’s always wanted a cool cat named Pico so that’s what we called him. For me though, I’ve always wanted a cat named Bob. Maybe next time.

We then tried figuring out what to do since we weren’t exactly prepared for this sort of thing. How do we get him in the car and to the vet? Where is a vet? An emergency/open late one too?

Hubby talked to another fellow gardener who had a towel in his car we could use to wrap Pico in. Well, we got him in the towel but this kitty is riley and managed to get away. The gardener’s son had some catnip growing in his garden that he thought could help. Pico was intrigued by it but not interested in eating it. He just kept craving that human touch. Pet me! Pet me! Pet me PLEASE! Maybe a “help me please” mixed in. The son, super nice guy, was being a little too helpful though that Pico ran off again, seeking his hiding place. But we got him with us again but wondering how in the world we’re going to manage this. I knew we had to try.

More coaxing. What is it with cats and coaxing? Anyway, we just let him walk and follow us towards our car. We had to get as close as we could before attempting him into the car. Once we got close, we were determined to get him wrapped up. Finally we did but we had to be quick because this guy’s a fighter.

After getting in the car, hubby wasn’t sure he could keep him under control. He was afraid we’d have to let him go because it was too difficult. NO! I was afraid that if we did he wouldn’t survive. Some how some way hubby was able to hold him while we went in search of a temporary cat carrier. We did find one but it was made for a dog (the soft kind). Lame. But it would do for now. Pico seemed to like his new quarters (he sat on hubby’s lap in the carrier) because he could see out, get some air and lay down. I think he knew we were trying to help him. He also seemed to like the car ride – didn’t mind it anyway. He was very good boy.

We love this kitty! We wanted to keep Pico.

We got him to the vet where we were asked if we wanted to be financially responsible for him. Meaning, he could be our new furkid if we paid for his doctor visit. We could pick him up the next day but full payment would be expected, otherwise, he’d be shipped off to county once he was well enough. Uh…well….first things first. Did he belong to someone (it appeared he had – hubby noticed what looked like a collar “dent” in his neck fur, plus he was very friendly with people)? Was he micro chipped? If he was chipped that would answer our question for sure. We really wanted him but left with a “we’ll decide later.”

Hubby called yesterday to check up on Pico. He’s doing great! The doc was able to stitch him up and neuter him. Poor kitty! But so glad that’s been done. Knowing this visit would probably cost several hundred dollars we wondered if the doc would agree to a payment plan. We learned later that the cost of the visit was $750. Yikes! If we wanted Pico we’d have to pay $300 upfront. Gulp. That’s just too much. If they charged us for the neutering only I’d be okay with that but $300 is a lot of money for a kitty we found abandoned. Sorry Pico. That makes us really sad.

We lost our sweet fur baby, Mostaza, nearly ten months ago so coming across Pico and helping him made me feel that I could be ready for a new pet kitty when the opportunity arises again.

Isn’t Mostaza pretty?

We’re grateful we were at least able to help Pico. Maybe that’s all we were meant to do. Now, I just hope that once he makes it to the pound he is quickly adopted. He’s too sweet and smart and beautiful to not be. I refuse to think about what else could happen. It breaks my heart to. So pray for Pico! I suspect Pico will find a good home and live a good healthy life. Good kitty!