This big orange boy is called Eddie and he is a domestic shorthair of some kind. He’s a neighbours cat and he is a sweet, loving, and smart cat. He comes and visits everyone on our street and everyone knows him, and based on Facebook, everyone loves him. 

The neighbour has decided she is getting rid of him and made a post to see if anyone would take him. I was told by her that she has a good and high paying job so I don’t understand, and to take a cat and family member from kids seems so cruel. I immediately messaged and said we would take him. We have a cat and dog currently, and thankfully he is coming from a house with a cat and a dog already. Our cat Oscar is an indoor cat, for his safety. He is a stunning British Shorthair and blue - we have been told people will steal him. I can’t stomach the idea of anything bad happening to him, so he stays in with our dog and there is always someone home. They are very happy. I also have the best insurance for him possible in the UK, and I’m not presenting when I say he has better healthcare than we do. He has ongoing medical things which are controlled and he is very healthy and happy. 

So Eddie is an outdoor cat, and we were going to try to transition him to be an indoor cat. Apparently his breed takes well to this, but if he insisted that he must go out, I was going to get him a tracker collar. A good one too, plus the insurance. The other owner has no tracker, and no insurance. We agreed a week ago that we can only take him on September 6th, we are all out the day prior. It’s not fair to leave him alone all day until all three have adjusted properly. Oscar and Grace, the dog, have friends come round to see them on the days we are all out which is rare. 

We needed to get Eddie a litter tray, more food, treats etc. The normal stuff. So I was waiting to get paid too. We had a vets appointment with him to check him over and he was completely healthy. Agreed to take him and the date was set. Two days ago, Eddie wondered off a bit and he got hit by a car, this big orange boy at 6:15am, it was sunny that day. He ran off into a bush across a very busy road from home. Our neighbour say this and informed us what happened. The owner didn’t look and went to work without trying… I was thankfully off that day and from 8:30am, when I woke up, I was out looking for him. I knocked on doors and checked gardens, I asked people and showed pictures, I rallied other neighbours to help find him and even ask the ice cream man to keep an eye out and to call me if he sees him. All day, no one saw him. People were messaging asking for updates - like I was the owner, at this point and still as of right now I’m not. I spent the vast majority of the day out looking, and sitting where it happened. I didn’t want him to cross that road again. 

I badly hurt both my hips from this day, I wasn’t aware of how much I was doing. I’m 27, I’m not old or anything, but I ran up and down those streets for hours. Crouching down and up all day. My legs and hips are in tremendous pain. I went out after dark because the road was quieter. I know from experience seeing him, he avoids cars and he’s smart. I hoped he’d wait for it to quiet down. I walked up and down the main road for another hour at gone 10pm. I couldn’t come in and give up, I can’t describe it but I couldn’t stop. I would be more likely to have something physically stop me before I stopped. As it was dark, I ran after many foxes checking if they were him. The owner looked briefly twice, and told me about 8pm he’ll show up if he shows up. He was hit by a car and in an unknown condition… 

I walked quite far up this road, turned around and there bang in the middle of the road was him. It was dark, and 50 metres away but I knew it was him and he was in serious danger, I just sprinted at him. I would rather I get hit than him again. I learnt from this I’m very willing to die for others it turns out. He saw me obviously spring at him at full speed and darted off the correct direction. I dived through bushes with my light and followed him. He was waiting for foxes to leave, it to quieten down, and for the shock he endured to go away. He must have watched me hidden so many times but was too scared. I followed him home but he ran with a limp. Even at a calmer moment, he saw me and approached but then continued running home. He clearly planned this run so no one saw him. When he got back to his house, he just collapsed on the floor. He put so much effort into that moment it just took it out of him. 

He had an abrasion on his rear leg, and a limp. Me, my wife and the owner took him to the vets that night and were there until gone midnight. Without insurance, all we could do was an examination and go from there. The vet said, based on not having any X Ray done, it didn’t seem broken, and there didn’t seem like any signs off internal bleeding. He got injected with pain meds and sent home with tablets to take daily for the pain. 

I didn’t sleep that night, and the next morning I got no updates from the owner. In fact the entire day I didn’t until the night when I asked how he was. All of yesterday I phoned and emailed genuinely every charity in England. I truly mean that. My mum has benefits, so we hoped RSPCA or PDSA would help. RSPCA said no flat out, and the PDSA originally said yes they’ll help, then when I phoned back to confirm an appointment they told me the previous receptionist lied to me and they couldn’t help me. This gave me a break down at work. I worked all day yesterday, and I’m even working today while writing this. They gave us hope and took it away. So I kept ringing.

At the end of the line, I found a charity with a small website called Animal Samaritan’s. I completed their form for emergency vet help, and ask the vet to send the medical history to them as requested. No email, no phone line. A blind form into the abyss. At around 7pm they respond, and tell me they had reviewed the vet notes and my request for an X Ray and further medical treatment and told me they would support us, and get us to one of their partner vets ASAP. I responded and they even emailed back at 10pm last night. A human from an organisation emailed me at night time for Eddie. After being extremely stressed about how to get him in as I’m working today and tomorrow, we are taking him at 9am, and work is letting me off the morning. They wanted to see him today but he needed to fast, which he hasn’t done as we didn’t know he would need general aesthetic. 

The owner comes next. I’ve communicated all this with the owner, and they have done nothing. No calls, nothing. Remember the 6th September. She is pressuring me to take him immediately. She wants to get rid of him now, today. I’ve been sad, depressed and honestly the worst I felt since my dad died in front of me. That’s how I felt yesterday from the stress of all this, and only to be pressured and lent on by this owner who hasn’t lifted a single finger. I am, in a few days, a student unsalaried teacher in a secondary school. I get student loans and a part time job. I was extremely happy that I got the role, that work accepted to keep me on at weekend, salaried too if you can believe that and my wife accepted Eddie, but she kept messaging me saying that if I don’t pay for his medical bills then she would just keep him and deal with him. 

My wife is autistic and this has been incredibly hard for me who has to tell this to my wife, she gets angry at me from a struggle of understanding, and I’m depressed from it all. This has all honestly made me numb, genuinely numb in my hands and head. I even texted her yesterday I was chasing charities, and that he has an actually honest to god appointment tomorrow morning completely free, I just wanted help getting him there and back. She texted me recently telling me the same thing, that she refuses to have anymore part of this and wants him gone, or if she keeps him and pays for it all - as she should - then we can’t have him. 

This boy will live a happy life if it kills me. If his injury is worse than we know, we will give him to a good charity, like Animal Samaritans so he can live and recover. I believe that we made written plans for the 6th September, she didn’t have insurance or a tracker and look what happened. She is full responsible for him but what’s to be done? He gets kicked out with an injured leg? The X Ray alone is £900. 

If you made it this far, thank you for reading this insanely long post. He’s currently stable, and we will get him there and figure this out. I’m getting him insurance, and by the seems of it he’s coming home with us tonight. I’m scared for him, for me and the stress. I’m having a major life change in less than a week with the job change. I hope writing this out helps me process it all. I just don’t want to feel alone. 

Our story of Eddie, a longer read