Remembering Catbury

The unforgivable and shocking treatment of a cat named Catbury is recounted in Frank Bingham’s book, ‘A Promise to Catbury’.

The book described that Catbury from Ulverstone was six months old, the colour of dark chocolate and purred like an outboard motor. He had personality plus. Catbury fell victim to acts of cruelty that are difficult to believe that anyone could do. Frank Bingham made a promise to Catbury’s family that he would be remembered.

Two decades on, the story of ‘A Promise to Catbury’ has stayed with Ten Lives supporter, Shane Dohnt.

Shane contacted Ten Lives and said that he felt the best way for him to help practically, was to sponsor the vet care needs of badly treated cats. He would contribute himself and raise funds at various times to go towards vet care. He hoped in some way the name of Catbury would live on in people’s minds and that cruelty to animals would not be tolerated in our society.

It was not long after that kind offer that we needed to call on Shane’s support.

Quinette is a tabby kitten that came into us with a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 1.5. BCS is measure out of 9 so this cat was just skin and bone.

Quinette had a badly damaged leg and missing toes.

The good Samaritan that brought Quinette in to Ten Lives did so because he was concerned that people in the area dealt with stray cats in a cruel way, but he lacked any hard evidence. So, he thought he would act to prevent a tragic or cruel ending and took Quinette into Ten Lives’ care.

The operations team quickly called the vet team in on Quinette’s admission to our vet hospital. Pain relief was the fi rst priority followed by treatment of the wounds. We needed to get some condition back onto Quinette and the vet team were worried about her leg.

With our expert and attentive care, at Ten Lives and in Foster Care, Quinette responded well.

It was a rocky road with vomiting and diarrhoea to be managed while trying to get Quinette to gain weight.

Quinette’s rear leg still remained a concern with reports from Foster Carers Shannon and Elijah saying that Quinette was still not able to put on any weight on the leg.

The Vet team assessed the best outcome for Quinette would be to amputate to the leg.

Ten Lives vet, Dr Ruth, was pleased with the surgery outcome and Quinette is happy and recovering with her Foster Carers with regular vet checks.

Foster Carer Shannon said Quinette has adapted brilliantly to her new circumstances and in less than a couple of days was happy and playing with their dog, cat and… pet rat? (Quinette we might have to talk to you about that last one!)

A happy ending indeed. Lucky for Quinette that Ten Lives is here for her and that supporters like Shane take positive action to help and… remember Catbury.