Injured cat rescued from Bunder Road

In the din of traffic and under the hot blazing sun lay an injured cat on Bunder Road. She was panting with her tongue out and eyes glazed over when I saw her. I was passing by the area in the afternoon, and had parked my car near Radio Pakistan. Next to it is the Richmond Crawford Government Veterinary Hospital. It is the largest and the oldest government veterinary hospital in the city. The cat was right next to the hospital wall. It was immobile and obviously in pain. I immediately got some water out of my car, poured it into a disposable glass which I happened to have with me, and offered it to the cat. It took her about 5 minutes, but she lapped up the entire glass.

Parked nearby was the Brooke Hospital for Animals’ van. They are an international organisation helping poor communities take better care of their working animals (donkeys, horses and mules). Two of their mobile clinics are now functioning in Karachi as well, and they have an office inside Richmond Crawford. I asked their vet to come over and have a look at the cat. They picked her up and handed her over to the Richmond Crawford staff who dressed the wound on her leg. The cat stayed there overnight. Today, on our request, the kind Brooke vet Dr. Shernawaz dropped the cat off to the Karachi Animal Hospital. Dr. Zulfiqar Otho, the director of the hospital, diagnosed her as most likely having a broken hip. He also said she might have jaundice, as her gums and eyes were quite yellow. She was also severely dehydrated and so was administered a drip and antibiotics.

We’ll be taking her for an x-ray to Gizri tomorrow morning. Hopefully, she’ll be able to get all better. She’s an extremely sweet natured cat and is currently confined to a cardboard box. The Karachi Animal Hospital is extremely limited on space – they only have about 4 pet carriers for cats and they are all already full of their own patients. Would anyone be interested in adopting or fostering her while she recovers from treatment? If you’re on facebook, sharing this cat’s story on your profile will help spread the word about her. Thanks!

Update – March 18, 2010

We took the cat for an x-ray to the Tabani Diagnostic Centre in Gizri today. According to Dr. Zulfiqar Otho, her pelvic bone is broken and will require surgery. However, she needs to recover from her jaundice first before she can be operated upon. Even today she was a bit dehydrated and required additional drips. She will also be on painkillers for a couple of days. He figures it would take at least two to three weeks for her to get strong enough for the operation, and then at least a month to recuperate from it.