HUGO WOLF

Hugo 120

Hugo Wolf, our orange and white stray, was captured in a trap and brought to our kind, progressive vet. Hugo was not in good shape.

Three months ago some people down the street from me moved out of their apartment. A few weeks later an orange and white cat began sneaking on to our porch and hiding in the small pet igloo we bought years ago to keep stray cats from freezing to death during the harsh winters. I began feeding him and called him Hugo Wolf, after the troubled 20th century composer. I had no idea the name would turn out to be so prophetic.

Hugo has FIV (feline AIDS) which is destroying his immune system. This is not new to me; most of the cats we have rescued so far have had FIV and Leukemia. His ear problem, however, is new to me.

He had scars all over his face from fighting, so I was not surprised when I saw scars behind his ears. Eventually I noticed that he had ear mites. Again, not unusual for a cat living on the street. But over time his left ear began to looked really ripped up.

Ear mites feed on the tissue inside a cat's ear. They leave behind waste which looks like coffee grounds. As they feed the ear becomes inflamed and sore. The ear mite waste can cause an infection.

When a cat has severe ear mites, they scratch their ears and shake their heads. The ear mites breed and the cat will take more and more extreme measures to relieve his misery. Eventually the head shaking and ear scratching takes its toll on the ear, and the blood vessels break, causing the ear to fill up with swollen tissue. This is called an aural hematoma, and it makes the ear look like it is filled with skin. This traps the ear mites inside the ear, making the situation even worse.

With a stray like Hugo, after months without medical care, things just go downhill. Hugo managed to scratch his left ear so much that his aural hematoma burst open, causing his left ear to bleed. I took some photos of his ear so I could present a "before and after" of Hugo's recovery.

Please be warned, *THESE PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC*

I want to assure you, I did not spend more than a few minutes taking these photos, nor did I take pleasure in photographing the poor cat while he sat in the trap. But I felt that these photos could help to show people why we as a society must change the way we treat our street cats.

Hugo 124

Hugo 123

 Keep in mind, he did not acquire these wounds through cat fights. These wounds were self-inflicted, caused by the unbearable itchiness of the ear mites, and the excruciating pain he felt. I might add also, that these photos do not do justice to the carnage that was his left ear. The wound was much more bloody and gruesome than the photos.

The vet informed me that both of Hugo's eardrums have ruptured. He is now deaf. I have never had a deaf cat, so I am going to have to read up on how to care for him.

Hugo was anesthetized and neutered. He was given painkillers and treatment for the ear mites. His scarred ear and head were debrided, stitched and a drain was put in the abscess that had formed on his head. And of course he will be put on antibiotics and kept overnight at the veterinary clinic. He will go home on multiple medications.

At this point you may be wondering what I, as a good Samaritan, will have to pay for all of these costly medical services. The answer? Nothing. It's free because of my vet's stray cat fund. My guess is that it would have cost us between 500 to 700 dollars if we had had to pay, not including at least three follow-up visits recommended by my vet. I work with saints.

Whether or not this cat was abandoned by someone I don't know; some people in our neighborhood think he was. Either way, Hugo is in good hands now. I will post on him in his new home.