One cold winter morning, upon her arrival to the make-shift building of Wildcare, a wildlife rehabilitation facility, where she religiously volunteered four hours every Sunday feeding, cleaning and caring for the animals, Corinne, one of ORA’s co-founders, was met by an unusual surprise. The staff and other volunteers were buzzing over an animal in distress, not a wild animal but a black adult cat, that had been found in a red carrier by the front door that same morning. When Corinne appeared, a unanimous chorus declared, “here you are in the process of creating an animal rescue organization so you are the most suitable person to take care of this cat.” She was handed the carrier with no time or opportunity to object that we were already full of cats, even though the organization still existed only on paper.
There was no information on the cat’s name or anything else in the carrier - just an open can of tuna. Oksana, as she was soon named, appeared to be terribly frightened. She had been left in a carrier for who knows how long, on a freezing early morning in the middle of January. She displayed the typical behaviour of an abused animal. She was terrorized by any approaching hand, and we had to put food in front of her by wearing thick gloves or by hiding our hands under a towel. It took a long while before Oksana felt comfortable with us and overcame her fear of human hands. She did not like to leave the room she was first introduced to and only occasionally ventured out for a few minutes before storming back out at the first noise. Eventually, with a lot of loving care, Oksana started feeling at ease, enjoying the play time, the grooming sessions and especially the variety of food we offered her, while tuna remained her favorite food.
That is when the bad news came. The veterinarian who was performing dentistry on Oksana called us as she noted a lump on the right side of her breast. We asked the vet to remove it and have it biopsied. It was malignant. We were devastated by the news. It seemed so unfair that just when Oksana was finally comfortable and had to learnt to trust humans again, her life would come to an end.
In just two weeks the tumor was back. The veterinarian did not feel very hopeful about performing another surgery, but eventually a full right-side mastectomy was performed and Oksana overcame the surgery and soon after she gained a good amount of weight.
We put Oksana on a holistic regimen of vitamins and supplements and for many years she remained cancer free. She became a chunky senior who still enjoys food and playing, showing a particular fondness for catnip mice. Although she never seemed to develop a special friendship with any of the other permanent resident cats, Oksana can always be seen roaming about the house with a joyful expression on her face and with the relaxed confidence that comes from the knowledge that this is her home and the people here love her and care for her. Sadly, Oksana’s cancer has returned again, this time resisting treatment. She is eating well but we know in our hearts that she will not have much time left. In addition to our little Bella being given a recent diagnosis of abdominal lymphona, this past week has been an especially difficult one to bear.
Claudia Vecchio, Founder/Volunteer Chairperson
ORA-Organization for the Rescue of Animals
http://orarescue.org
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