Thank you Millcroft!

Jack has just been to Millcroft vets in Cockermouth for a routine check-up. I felt a bit side-lined as he was obviously the celebrity visitor! Everyone there seems to know him and came out to see how he was getting on. I just wonder what on earth the other customers thought was going on. He seems to be known by everyone there and it is quite clear that they really care about him. We can't thank everyone at Millcroft enough for what they have done in caring for Jack. We couldn't have hoped for any nicer and more professional vets when we first moved over here. We will try to stop taking things in for them, but we have been feeding them biscuits and flap-jacks as a small way of saying 'thank you'!

Jack is fine. He has recovered remarkably, and I would say that he was pretty much as normal as he has ever been. He is now going to come off the pain relief/anti inflammatory drug, but I am sure that he will be OK. The mal-coordination down the right side seems to have abated as well.

Jack has also started going outside again. He was going stir-crazy, being stuck inside. We finally allowed him to go out under heavy supervision. The main worry was that he wouldn't be able to get out of trouble should he get into a situation, but his improvement meant that he could once again venture into the great outdoors. He has been out and about, and clearly loves it. I think that he has been out visiting all the neighbours, getting treats wherever he goes. He is finally happier and sleeping longer at night again.

A snap-shot since Jack

Since Jack was shot with an airgun, these are some of the airgun incidents involving animals...

South Wales Argus, 20 April 2010

A family cat is recovering after being shot twice with a pellet gun in Newport, Gwent.  He was found behind the garden shed covered in blood.  One of the pellets was close to his heart and lungs.

Express & Star, 19 April 2010

A swan has been shot dead with an air rifle at a beauty spot in Great Wyrley, Staffordshire.  The swan is believed to have been nesting on eggs, meaning its chicks will also die.

Northern Echo, 16 April 2010

A lamb has been shot and killed with a high-powered air rifle at a farm in Dalton, North Yorkshire.  The farmed found the lamb in a remote field.  It had been shot twice.  There had been a similar incident in the same field last year when two lambs were shot and left for dead.

Westmorland Gazette, 15 April 2010

A sniper with an airgun has been taking pot shots at pigs on farms in South Lakeland.  Fifteen animals at a farm in Allithwaite, Cumbria, were found peppered with pellets and police believe the incidents may be more widespread.  Pellets were found in meat supplied to a butcher's shop at Grange-over-Sands.

This is Cornwall, 15 April 2010

A cat has been shot and killed in Helston, Cornwall.  Her owners thought she had been involved in a cat fight but her condition deteriorated and she died.  An x-ray revealed two airgun pellets, at least one of which had penetrated her chest and ended up in her neck.  The shooting was described as appalling by the local vet.

Cambridge News, 14 April 2010

A swan was shot twice in the neck and left to die.  The gunman was disturbed by two walkers in Stow-cum-Quy, Cambridgeshire, and was carrying the wounded bird under his arm.  When he was spotted he dumped the swan and his air rifle and ran off.

From the Gun Control Network.

Getting out of Dodge?

Jack has continued to improve remarkably over the last few days, and has very much returned to normal. As I write this, he is jumping on and off my desk as it his main route to the window. On-off-on-off, every time pushing my head out of the way and running over my laptop. I keep meaning to create some other route for him, but haven't yet. The point is that he is a lot better! Even the coordination problem on his right side seems to have almost gone. It is hardly visible at all now, and I need to watch for a while to notice it at all.

The media coverage has also, inevitably, died down. We managed to get into the local papers, on the local BBC radio and ITV local news, which was very good. I wanted to raise awareness of atrocities such as the act committed against Jack, and hopefully some people were made to think a little, but I doubt there will be much long term effect. Much of the debate on comment columns tended to become polarised between the cat lovers and haters.

I have done a small amount of research into firearms offences and crimes committed with airguns, and I have been amazed by the prolific use of such unlicensed weapons to commit offences against people and animals. People don't seem to pick up on the point that it is easy to just go out and buy a lethal weapon and kill or maim people and animals, without any sort of record. 

In 2008 the RSPCA reported that 759 animals "had been affected by the improper use of airguns". This is only those which were reported to the RSPCA. Many would have died unnoticed, or recovered without anyone realising that they had been shot. One of the vets we saw about Jack told me that animals will sometimes be brought in for some non-gunshot injury, and an x-ray will bring up airgun shots, still in the body, from a previous attack.

I have also been in touch with what appears to be a very level headed organisation called the Gun Control Network, who are campaigning for "for tighter controls on guns of all kinds in Britain and a greater awareness of the dangers associated with gun ownership and use". Trawling through their figures for gun incidents so far this year, there have been at least 35 incidents of cruelty committed against cats alone this year. They also produce records of all firearm incidents and the statistics are sobering for all, especially anyone who thinks that the gun situation is not an issue in this country. The figures for the year covering 2008/09 list a total of 14,250 offences involving firearms. Of this number, 6,042 involved air guns. In other words, 42% of the firearms offences are committed with air weapons capable of killing and maiming, which are unlicensed or registered.

Don't get me wrong. I am not anti-hunting. I am not anti-guns. I understand the need for pest control and support local farmers in their need to protect livestock. I am anti uncontrollable cruelty. Why shouldn't these weapons be recorded. Why shouldn't any responsible person be happy to record their ownership with the Police and be happy to prove their need for either pest control or sports needs? There seem to be too many people out there who think that it is fun to inflict cruelty, and it is far too easy for them to obtain the tools and get away with it.

Gun control will, of course, not be the whole answer. There are still the sick individuals out there who will inflict cruelty on all around them. The people who enjoy killing or maiming a cat will probably enjoy bullying or maiming those people around them, and that may be a bigger problem. Also, I don't have any statistics on this, so I'll have to wait on this topic!

BBC Radio Cumbria

BBC Radio Cumbria did a radio interview this morning. Jack would have said something, but was too busy sleeping next to my desk, so I had to take over. It was cut a bit short due to the story on the current problems after the Icelandic volcanic eruption, but we managed to get the main points across. Many thanks to BBC Radio Cumbria for covering this.

The link on the right should allow you to listen again to the programme. We were just before the 8 o'clock news.

Media Cat

Jack continues to improve. He can't go outside for a while yet, and so is getting quite restless inside. He races from window to window, looking at anything that moves outside, and also tries to chase flies and spiders on the outside of the window. I think that the reaction or coordination in his legs is also improving still. I'll probably say this so often that people will get fed up... but I still can't believe how lucky he was...

He seems to be having his little moment of fame. He has been in a couple of local papers and on the local ITV news. We put out a press release last weekend, telling Jack's story, as we really want to highlight the awfulness of these attacks. I have been looking into the statistics of animal attacks etc, but more on that later.

The News and Star were very quick off the mark and produced an article, which has led to a good number of comments. People tend to be polarised about such issues, but I hope that the debate continues. This article has been repeated on several other sites such as Care2 and Moggies.co.uk.

We had a man up from the Whitehaven News on Monday who produced an article in today's edition, with a photo that makes us look evil beyond belief! We also had an exceptionally nice team out from Border TV who put together a 2 minute piece that went out on Tuesday evening, and I gather that 2 minutes is quite unusually long for such a story.

We hope that the story will continue to be covered, but the problem with the media and its readers/viewers is that we move on to new stories so quickly, and so there is a danger that Jack will soon be forgotten. There is a possibility that the News & Star will cover a follow-up, perhaps based on the reward, but no news on that yet.

Can you help in anyway? We need this story to run. Jack is lucky beyond belief. He is alive, and hopefully will continue to be. He still has a pellet stuck in his skull. The perpetrator is still out there. Atrocities like this will continue to happen. If you have any influence with any form of media, please try to raise the debate about gun control and cruelty to animals. We have raised the reward by another £200 to a total of £400, and if you would like to encourage a conviction then increasing the reward further may help.

REWARD!!!

I am delighted to hear that a local business has offered a reward of £200 for information leading to a conviction. This is an extremely generous offer and just goes to show that there are some very nice and caring people out there. I am not entirely sure how this is going to be managed, but at present I have had a chat with Linzi Watson of the News & Star and she has passed this news on to the Police. If anyone would like to add to this reward 'pot', then let me know and I'll pass the news on.

It is sad that something like this is necessary, but it is possible that a reward may just bring someone forward with the information that the Police need to make a conviction; and a conviction is what is needed in my eyes to get the message across to these senseless sick individuals that this sort of atrocity is wrong.

Jack is continuing his remarkable recovery. He had a good visit to the vets, and they seem very happy with the way things are going. The pellet is obviously still there but it seems to be considered less of a risk than we thought. It should now be fairly firmly lodged and may not cause any significant problems. We hope the swelling will continue to abate, and he will be fully functional again. It may cause problems going through airport metal detectors and he might be a little more top-heavy with a lead lump in his head. We have always politely suggested that he may not have been the brightest kitten in the litter (loveable - yes, but bright... hmmm... no!), but at least he now has an excuse!

His old self

Jack is visibly improving. His old boisterousness is definitely returning along with his hyperactivity. He is playing with toys, rushing around the house and begining to make a damn nuisance of himself... Oh, how I missed that! It is remarkable.

Even his legs seem to be improving. He still walks cagily down the stairs, but the problem of coordination seems to have diminished. There is still a problem, but it is much less noticeable. I assume that this could be due to reduction of the swelling in his head.

Overall he is a significantly happier and improved cat since the dark days of Friday and Saturday. He is off to the vets again this morning, but I expect that they will also be delighted with his improvement. To think that all he is on at the moment is an anti-inflammatory and some antibiotics. No pain killers are required. Jack and mother nature seem to be doing an incredible job.

The main worry now is the 'Sword of Damacles' that is literally dangling over his head. The poor chap still has the pellet lodged in his head and this could potentially change his condition dramatically at any moment. A slight blow to his head on the wrong spot could send that pellet further towards his brain, causing irreparable damage or death.

So despite his marked recovery... it is still 'day by day', and today...

Jack is alive...

and being a lovable nightmare!

Being alive and liking tuna

So far Jack has only eaten dry food. He even shuns that concoction that is put in pouches for cats, that most cats (8 out of 10 apparently) love. However he was introduced to "tuna chunks in spring water" this morning in order to encourage him to eat up his medicine. He has 3ml of an anti-inflammatory and 50mg of antibiotic (twice a day). So he now gets tuna chunks in spring water to encourage him to lap up the drugs. The bowl was not only licked clean but almost eaten as well in case there was some more tuna lurking inside its china-clay particles!

What does all this mean? Firstly it means that Jack is alive... It is very strange that now, whenever someone says "how is Jack?", my first answer is "he is alive". This is enough of an answer. It demonstrates that at the moment things are potentially fragile enough for him that the answer may not be so positive. Jack woke me up at 4am this morning walking around on my pillow, and my head. He does this often and I normally curse him, but this morning it meant that he was alive, and perhaps a small bit of his old hyperactive self had been awoken. He then snuggled down with me in bed, purring like some automated machine. After a while his purring diminished and his head slumped onto my arm... I stared at him and the stillness, and suddenly his nose twitched. He was alive! It makes me apprecaiate every moment as we go through these uncertain times. He is not in perfect shape. He stumbles around, and can only use the stairs slowly and clumsily. He knocks things over and falls down sometimes when trying to jump up onto the furniture... but, for now, so what?

Today things are good. Jack is alive.

Jack has had a good day, and is quite tired after being interviewed by the media! His legs are still not working properly and he is very dopey, but he is improving, I think. He can jump up onto things a bit better now.

Many many thanks to everyone for your concern and comments, and also to the very nice ladies and gentlemen of the media for their interest.

The visit to the vet went well. The lack of coordination may be due to the pressure on his brain from the pellet. He is, however, generally better than yesterday, so an overall improvement.

Day 4 - Monday 12th April

Jack spent a relatively quiet night with us - his first at home. He is very dopey and seems to forget what he is doing half way through doing it. He is fine and purring loudly once snuggled up. His legs are still all over the place and he has problems with the stairs.

He is off to the vet again this morning.

Jack has spent most of the day sleeping, and wandering around looking very groggy. He has also eaten quite a lot, which must be a good sign. He still looks drunk as he can't use his legs properly, but we hope that that is just the drugs. We will know more tomorrow when he visits the vet again.

So tonight is a big night... His first night home. I expect that we will be checking him throughout the night, but for the first time since the initial incident, I am actually beginning to feel more positive.

Jack's Back!

He made a massive improvement overnight and was up and moving around, so again, we have been able to bring him home. I drove carefully and slowly all the way home, and the best noise in the world has been his somewhat mournful meoooow from his box - meaning that he is alive and complaining - rather than slumped and in trouble.

He is now wandering around the house looking rather drunk. He is a bit mal-coordinated. His front legs are the worst, and he will turn and leave one leg behind. He is also having a bit of trouble jumping up and coming down the stairs. This may just be the drugs, as I assume that he has a fairly heavy dose inside him, but we do have to expect some long-term damage. He has the human equivalent of a heavy calibre bullet stuck in his head. It is a miracle that he is alive at all. There may be some sort of brain damage causing some problems.

As for now... He is home. He purrs and curls up in my arms, so things could be worse!

Day 3 - Sunday 11th April

I have caught up with time. Again no news, so we hope that Jack is still with us. We are going in to see him later this morning.

The situation so far otherwise is that we have informed the Police and they have informed the RSPCA. The police were extremely nice, but I know that there is so little that they can do.

If you want to be disgusted try putting "cat" and "air gun" into Google. It is frightening how depraved some individuals are. How can such activities continue to happen. Anyone who thinks that there shouldn't be controls on air-guns should come and meet Jack while they can. Air-guns are dangerous weapons Fact! I am not arguing for a ban, but at present, just about anyone can walk into a shop and buy a lethal weapon, capable of killing or maiming helpless animals, or even people. Who can tell me that the current situation is correct?

I am angry beyond belief.

Jack... Be strong.

Day 2 - Saturday 10th April

There was no call from the vets by morning time, so we hoped that no news is good news. I rang the vets at about 9am and was greeted with good news. Jack was alive, and considering... remarkably well. He had pulled out his medicine tubes in the night. He was sitting up, being affectionate and moving around.

We decided that the best place for him was at home in his normal surroundings, where he would be less stressed. I was delighted and promptly burst into tears! Jack was alive! He was fighting!

I went in and saw the x-rays. The pellet is quite clear. An air-gun pellet is very distinctive with its waisted middle. There was no doubt that some sick individual had taken a shot at Jack. I collected him and his inevitable pills and took him home by car. He meowed a lot on the way home, pawed my fingers through the cage door and seemed OK for most of the trip, but then went silent. I checked him and found him slumped on the floor unresponsive and breathing very heavily. He wasn't well. I skidded around and roared back to the vets. I sincerely apologise to those visitors on the roads who I flashed and used my horn on to get them out of the way.

I ran in to the vet saying that I was probably being over cautious and that he was probably just sleeping with the drugs. The vet took one look and said that I wasn't... Jack was in a bad way.

I left him there and spent the day on a park bench 100m from the surgery door with my phone in my hand in case they called.

No news was good news... After several hours I went in and checked on him. He was stable. Not up, but not down. I held his head in my hands and scratched under his chin. I think that he recognised me. He meowed a bit. I just hope that I gave him a small bit of comfort. I left him there.

We managed to go back and see him later on at around 4.30pm. He hadn't changed. He was very despondent, and hardly looked at us. He was lying down facing away from us, and wouldn't turn around. He lets out the occasional mournful meow.

We hope that he makes it through another night.

Day 1 - Friday 9th April

I am starting this mainly as a means of keeping some people updated on Jack's condition, as the news spreads. I am sure that people will understand that it is quite painful at the moment constantly repeating the same sad story. We do, however, greatly appreciate your comments and support. I will try to update this two or three times a day with any news on Jack. I think that writing this will also be a bit cathartic for me as well.

Who is Jack? Jack is our 7 1/2 month old kitten. He is quite large for his age, very boisterous and perhaps just a bit thick! On his second outing into the big wide world (a few weeks ago) he got stuck up a tree. He has gone on to do that about four times now. We have now formed a system where I climb up the tree, Jack climbs onto my shoulder, and I climb back down with him wrapped around my neck. Is this teaching him not to climb trees that he can't get down from - or just that I will always rescue him?

What happened? Last Friday Jack went out at around 9am and was still out by lunchtime, which is unusual. I was beginning to worry a bit as we have had bad luck in the past with two cats being killed, supposedly by cars in the last year and a half (it was almost 18 months to the day since our first cat was killed). Jack then suddenly appeared at about 2pm, crawling through his cat-flap, clearly distressed and injured. He was covered in cobwebs, and bleeding from the nose. He could hardly move and then slumped on the floor.

We rushed him to the vet, thinking that he must have been trapped somewhere, or had fallen off a beam in a barn or something. One of the first things the vet said was that she would check for air-gun shots. I was amazed and said that that would not be possible, he couldn't have been shot. We live in a lovely rural area and have got to know most of our neighbours quite well. Everyone has been delightful and friendly since we first arrived here. We left Jack with the vets and went home.

At around 5pm the vet rang us to say that Jack had been shot with an air-gun. I felt sick. He is a 7 month old kitten with dopey big black eyes.

The pellet is apparently clearly visible on the x-ray, embedded in his head. The vets were doing what they could for him and feared trying to remove the pellet in case the process did more damage.

We slept badly that night.