Posted on 04/29/2018 3:51:30 AM PDT by vannrox
Two months ago, a 1-year-old cat was found lying on the road in northern New Jersey. A Good Samaritan took him to a local speciality hospital to get help.
The Kitty Krusade
"They thought he had been hit by a car. It wasn't until nurses and emergency vets cleaned away the blood and did X-rays, did they realize that he had been shot," Kelley Peters told Love Meow.
They contacted Kelley at The Kitty Krusade, a local rescue group in Montclair, New Jersey and asked if they could take him in as a rescue.
"'Of course!' I said," Kelley added. "He needed a tough guy name. So he was named Clint Eastwood."
The Kitty Krusade
Clint had been injured through the neck where three vertebrae were severely damaged. He was barely hanging on.
"For the next few days, it was minute by minute. He was dependent on oxygen and quadriplegic. The prognosis wasn't good," Kelley said. "If he survived his significant injuries, the chances of him walking again were very slim, but no one ever gave up on him."
The Kitty Krusade
Day by day, Clint showed his will to live. At first, he had to be spoon-fed. As soon as he regained his energy, he was eating like a champ. Kelley visited him every night at the hospital, showering him with love and cheering him on.
A couple weeks later, he started to move, using his front paws. When he began his daily physical therapy, he amazed everyone with his determination to walk.
The Kitty Krusade
"We could tell Clint wanted to walk. He had an eagerness to move, and would try so hard. He would make little meows like he was saying, 'Come on! You can do it.' He was determined and practiced so hard every day," Kelley told Love Meow.
Clint had therapy three times a day, gradually working up to "walking" 1/4 mile a day, along with laser therapy and massages twice a week.
The Kitty Krusade
With every practice, Clint got a bit stronger and more confident. Kelley had to hold his back legs up for a while until one day, he walked right out of her hands, and did it all on his own. "The days and weeks of practice paid off."
In just a few weeks, the tabby boy was strong enough to walk all by himself.
The Kitty Krusade
"Never once did Clint give up. Never once did we think of giving up on him. In that, he showed others if you believe you can, you can accomplish anything," Kelley told Love Meow.
Despite his traumatic past, Clint continues to show love to his human friends. "He's super happy, sweet, loving and a purr machine." He loves to be with other cats like Justin, a fire survivor. They are always by his side, even during his physical therapy.
The Kitty Krusade
"He always knew he could and would walk. It was just a matter of time. Even when he got frustrated or his legs wouldn't move, he still found a way. Those moves turned into a crawl which became steps.
"Clint continues to astound all and beat the odds, walking, climbing stairs, playing, and doing all kitty things," Kelley told Love Meow.
The Kitty Krusade
Follow updates on Clint the miracle kitty on Facebook and Instagram. If you would like to support their rescue efforts, click here to see how you can help.
Watch Clint's journey in this video:
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Related story: Senior Cat Regains Mobility In Her Legs to Walk Again - She Can't Stop Cuddling Her Rescuers
Awwwww ... Bravo Zulu, Clint. Fire and brimstone for the clown who shot him.
I love rescue stories like this but it infuriates me the cruelty people do to animals, especially cats.......
Whenever I get exhauste from the news or life, I always go to LOVEMEOW. It’s story after story of rescues and happy endings for cats and kittens.
A stray trotted thru my yard and headed for the woods yesterday. I made sure the bird feeders were ok and then watched as (s)he made her way out of sight. Then followed a few minutes behind to see where she might have gone. By then she had disappeared, hopefully on her way home. She did look to have a collar and I will check neighborhood forums just to make sure she’s not a lost kitty
I agree, even though I’m not a cat lover, I hate the haters.
Yes!
Over the years, we have run across a lot of people who will do/condone ugly things to cats but will threaten to do horrifying things to any human being who will do/condone the same to dogs. Go figure.
Lasr night on Animal Planet’s The Zoo, they showed the rehabilitation of a Snow Leopard cub born with Swimmer Syndrome.
After extensive physical therapy, it was walking normally. Cats can make it when they set their minds to it and the little cub was a real trooper.
Anyway, we kept three. The Mom and one spayed female kitten live in a $150.00 heated, insulated Cat House I built for them and the other a big Tom actually became tame over time and stays in my house most of the time. I agree anyone that shoots a cat will pay a price someday. They are easy to catch when hungry and most counties have "no kill" shelters.
I think maybe two years ago they got a sizable donation and combined with county funds, remodeled the entire facility, got rid of the director and replaced her with a compassionate woman who turned it into a no kill shelter and set up a TNR (trap, neuter and release) program.......
HI Beautiful putty cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got my cat from this group
Noisy ! But loveable ......
I got a few cats...not THAT many...and I give the ferals a boost with food and protective environment...so I treat the cats I come in contact with decently...they are beautiful amazing lovable creatures...but they are part of the food chain also. I find bird feathers...half lizards..and mutilated mice lots of times on my property..when I am reminded that the cats need to be fed with other canned slaughtered animals it puts them into perspective.
Bravo to the one who undertook the rehab of the cruelly injured Clint...thank you for your kindness and perseverance...someday the lions will lie down with the lamb.
A horrible curse on maggots who injure and torment little animals. One of ours got kicked or stepped on but he keeps going with his bad leg though some days it really hurts him. They are tough, determined but fragile. Their little knees are especially vulnerable. Some of our free cats have cost hundreds of dollars in vet bills. Pepper is still the undisputed leader of our pride who have all had a good romp and hunt in the trees around the yard this morning and are lounging around my chair. They are smarter than many give them credit for but independent. They choose us. Working on the tractor last night i looked up to see all four lined up on the hood watching me.
Godspeed, little Clint!
‘You like cat stories in the morning. Come in.’
When my family was living in a city we had an ordinary-looking tabby cat. We adored that cat and treated it with great affection and care. We cut a cat door with a flap leading out to an outdoor rooftop deck, two stories up overlooking blocks of rowhousesso cute to let the cat go out into the rooftop garden and sniff around. Our cat could go out, but not get away into the dirty streets and dangers.
One morning very early, our kid woke us up calling out, "Ew! There's a strange cat in my room!"
I went and looked, and it was a feral cat that looked just like our cat, only dirty, crouched on the windowsill. Apparently it had found its way onto the rooftops and gotten in via the cat door. I went over and spoke to the cat kindly, to try to direct it towards the stairs and out, but it growled and hissed something terrible. I told my kid to get entirely under the covers while I went to get food to tempt the stray cat to follow me out.
With oven mitts on and kitchen tongs, I waved an open can of tuna under that cat's nose and used it to lead the cat down several flights of stairs and hallways towards the front door and opened the wooden door.
But before I could open the outer screen door, that wild alley cat screeched and climbed up the inside of the screen, howling and digging into the screen with its claws. Never having been inside, it was responding to the smell of the outside air and absolutely couldn't understand why there was a screen in the way of going back outside! Finally I dared to step near that banshee cat and opened the screendoor with the cat still hanging on it a foot from my head, yowling. I set the tuna can on the front step, went inside and closed the house door.
As soon as I was out of sight, the feral jumped down off the screen, scarfed the food and ran back towards the alley.
By this time my kid had crept down to peek at what was going on, and had witnessed the screeching and wild panic from the top of the stairs.
"He looks just like our cat!" said my kid. "But he's crazy!"
This turned into a teachable moment about how you can't judge a book by its cover, and that here we had two cats who looked almost identical, but one had been raised with love and a home, and the other had grown up rough, and what a difference a loving home could make.
Aww, Clint, you cutie kitty. Here’s hoping you regain total use of your legs and that the piece of filth who shot you has a very bad accident themselves. What gets around comes around. I have absolutely no patience, feeling, or anything but a contempt as deep as space for those who hurt helpless little creatures like this.
There’s no such thing as a “free pet”. I’ve literally spent thousands on “free dogs and cats”. My Missy cat with 3 legs is on my lap as we speak. She wandered into my barn with a compound fractured leg. That was 10 years ago and now she owns me.:)
Beautiful kitty!
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