Written by Joanne Kontaxopoulos, Founder of Harties Feral Cat Rescue
Photographs supplied by Ann Gmür
Armed with a trap, a blanket, and a sachet of Whiskas, I headed off to the open veldt. Someone had noticed an injured cat which had been around for a couple of weeks and, on the 13th of August 2022, I was called out to assist. They weren’t sure what was wrong, only that the cat battled to walk and seemed very thin.
When she noticed all the activity, the cat bolted into a thorny bush and was shivering with fear. I made my way through the bush, planning to catch her with a blanket. She escaped once again and disappeared into a storm water drain covered with a cement block.
I’d noticed that she had her front paw stuck into a hard plastic tick-and-flea collar which had caused horrific, maggot-infested wounds to her leg. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to get to her to scruff her if the cement block wasn’t lifted.
The lady who reported the cat called her husband who was in the vicinity to try and assist. Fortunately, he was a strong, big man who was able to lift this monster block. Black Beauty, as we nicknamed her, was howling and I poured out the contents of the Whiskas sachet onto the cement. She came out immediately and couldn’t swallow fast enough. I gently wrapped the blanket around her and placed her into the trap. She was too weak to resist.
She was rushed to Ifafi Veterinary Hospital, Hartbeespoort. While waiting for the vet to arrive, the assistant cut the collar off with side cutters, freeing her leg. But the damage was severe. The vet was worried that the wound was too far gone as the collar had lodged into the bone and the flesh was rotting.
She was sedated, wounds cleaned out and dead tissue removed. Thankfully, the maggots had actually assisted with removing the necrotic, infected tissue.
Millie needed wound treatment three times a day, which she didn’t enjoy very much. Her coat was so knotted and almost infused with barbed weeds that a complete shave was necessary. It took a couple of days before she realised there was food available all the time and she didn’t have to swallow huge chunks as quickly as possible.
Millie went to stay with cat angel Ann Gmür for two weeks while I was on my yearly vacation. When I returned, Millie and Ann had become so attached that we made a mutual decision that we couldn’t take her away from her happy place. She bonded especially well with Ann’s doggies. Ann Gmür is a true Cat Whisperer: she’s tamed many feral cats and her house is always open for unwanted adult cats and dogs.
Ann Gmür, Millie’s new owner, shares...
Millie is an independent, dog-loving, shiny, chubby girl. She doesn’t go looking for company but is relaxed when she’s around other cats. Her boyfriend, Jonny, a black rescue cat, is with her in her bedroom a lot of the time. Millie loves spending time with the doggies, especially when she thinks they need grooming.
She’s not a greedy cat; she eats about half a sachet a day and pellets. I take her down to the bottom of the garden and we sit and rock in the swing chair, which she loves. I can leave her there on her own and she’ll sit for hours. She loves watching YouTube Cat TV, listening to classical music and lazing about all day.
