Exciting August in Admissions!
September 20, 2021 — Not all humane societies in the country are able to accept stray cats, but the SPCA Serving Erie County is one of the shelters that, when population allows, does. On a national level, of the humane societies that do accept strays, for several reasons, it is unusual for owners to find stray cats in a shelter setting.
That is why August was an extra-exciting month for our team at the Admissions desk!
Here’s the story as told by our own Patty Ralabate:
“On August 13, a stray brown/tabby cat was brought to us by a nice man named Tyler who found her on Elmwood and Forest [in Buffalo]. She appeared be about 10 years old and was sick with nasal discharge, coughing and sneezing, and she had a ‘cauliflowered’ ear and needed a dental due to a broken canine and tarter. Due to her medical conditions, she was admitted and we started treatment with antibiotics for the duration of her stray hold.
When the cat’s stray hold was up, it was determined that we would give her dental surgery and put her up for adoption. She cleared stray time on August 16, but needed to finish her antibiotics, so that time was extended until August 19. At that point, we worked her into the surgical schedule for her dental surgery.
We named her Jiggles. On Monday, August 30, I was checking messages, and her finder, Tyler, left a message very late in the day stating that he had seen a lost cat flier describing the cat he found, and the flier was posted near where he had found her. He wondered if the cat was still with us. I looked and sure enough, she was still here being cared for; I left a message for Tyler letting him know the cat was here. Tyler called back with the name and number of the potential owner. [SPCA Admissions staff member] Tammi called the owner, and it appeared to be a match!
And here’s the rest of the story: Jiggles’ possible owner, Molly, and her girls came to the SPCA to confirm Jiggles was actually their cat, and it was! This cat is named Sesame, and she actually is 19 years old and deeply loved by all in the family. It seems Molly was out of town when the cat went missing earlier in the month.
Molly and Tyler have also been in touch, and much gratitude has been expressed all around!
Sesame is now happily back at home in Buffalo after her adventure!”
More from Patty!
“On August 16, our Dispatch desk received a call from a person stating a black and white cat was hit by a car on Southwestern Blvd. in Orchard Park.
We went out, found the cat, and brought it back to the SPCA for care. The cat had a broken jaw which we wired on August 17; the cat was then placed on pain meds and placed in our cat ICU ward to recover.
Stray time cleared on August 21. We named the cat Devon, and on August 30, while Devon was still in ICU recovery, a woman came in to report her cat lost (which almost NEVER happens). Her cat had been missing for two weeks. Tammi, being wonderful Tammi and not just doing a computer search looking for lost/found reports, took the owner’s phone with a photo of her cat and walked throughout the building and staff-only areas in the hopes of making a match. Sure enough, there recovering in cat ICU was her cat, Devon, whose real name is Hunter!
Hunter is now home with his owner and will be visiting soon to have his wire removed!”
It’s safe to say that the Animal Admissions team has been busy not only admitting animals to the SPCA, but taking those extra steps to foster some very happy reunions! Thanks to all involved in bringing these families back together!
–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Chief Communications Officer