KITTEN WITH THE CUT OFF TAIL

Not my picture but a darn close likeness compliments of the Net.

The call came just as I had finished dinner. My beautician who worked in a shop at a strip mall was so upset her voice shook. She apologized for calling so late but said when she got off work, she found a kitten by her car whose tail had been cut off. She knew of my rescue work so I was the first she called.

It was close to Halloween which is when cats do not fair well and are sadly subject to all sorts of cruel pranks. The poor black cats suffered the most abuse. I wasn't excited about a 40 mile round trip and most likely vet visit as dark approached but asked her to wait and said I would be there in about a half hour.

The kitten was about 7 weeks old and sure enough, there was a very red stump protruding from his body. There was no hair on the stump which was odd. Manx cats(tailless cats) were in vogue at that time and people were mutilating regular cats to give them the bob tailed look. This was evidently a mutilation that went very wrong. I called my vet who was use to my bringing in creatures that needed rebuilding. I met him at his office.

Jim was a very patient and caring vet with me. He gave me all kinds of financial breaks on my rescues but even so he staked a claim a big portion of my income. He had left standing orders with his wife that if Patti called, it was important and he would meet me at the office if it were a portable animal or come to where I was if not.

I handed Jim the kitten and at first he thought it was a mutilation also. Then he surprised me.

"Patti," he said, "this cat doesn't have a tail."

What I had brought in was a cat that was actually was a Manx. You couldn't even find a place where a tail ought to go. Most Manx have a stub, this kitten had nothing.

"Then what is that stump?" I wanted to know.

It turned out that the kitten had a rectal prolapse. Rectal prolapse is an uncommon condition where rectal tissue protrudes as a reddish-colored mass through the anus. That wasn't a cut off tail, the poor kitty was passing his own rectum.

Jim said that Manx cats are more prone to this problem because of the lack of tail. Often this promotes a weak sphincter muscle which allows the tissue to protrude. The danger is that once exposed, the tissue can die and eventually cause the death of the animal. He felt we had caught the kitten in time. He put the little creature to sleep, then proceeded to push the rectum back in place. Amazed, I then watched him sew the butt hole shut with a purse string effect. A tiny hole was left.

"Ah, Jim, how does he poop?" I asked worriedly.

Jim assured me it would only stay sewn shut for 48 hours and we would keep him on laxatives to keep his stool liquid. I took my little tailless cat with a sewn up butt hole home. It was a messy 48 hours but when the stitches were removed, his rectum stayed in place. However, the next morning, his lipstick was out again. Now that I knew what it was, lipstick out of a tube is the most accurate description of what it looked like.

This time Jim sewed him up and said he would keep him in the office for the next 5 days for observation. Five days later, stitches came out and in less than a day, so did the lipstick. Jim was now getting frustrated. The office girls had totally fallen in love with this little kitten. As a last resort, he cut into the kittens lower belly, pulled the wayward rectum back in and sewed it to the inside of the cat.

That lasted only a couple of days. He was still on laxative to keep the stool loose but one morning, again the lipstick was out. Again I dropped the kitten off at the office and left him there to go to work. Jim had been on call so I assumed he would get to him later. When I picked him up that afternoon, Jim's, fresh out of vet school young associate had sewn the poor kitten's butt shut again. I told him that Jim had all ready done that twice and it didn't work but done was done so I took the poor baby home.

Stitches came out and at last the rectum stayed put. Jim was a tiny bit upset that the newbie vet had success so easily but he knew that these procedures often had to be repeated before success. He was as pleased as I was with the result. The poor kitten had finally become anal retentive.

Four surgeries and hospital care had me holding my breath for the bill. Fifty dollars was all he charged, just to partially cover cost of medicines. That man saved so many of my rescues in just such a manner. I do love him for all he did. I have a select group of heroes and he is one.

Zipper, as I named him (Jim had threatened to put a zipper in his butt as he had to operate so often) was placed in a wonderful home with a stay at home widow. I think Zipper willed himself into good health just so he would never have to go back to see Jim. As a result, Zipper enjoyed remarkable health and a long life.