Bat Cat

Have you ever had a bat dropped at your feet by your cat??  A LIVE bat???  Well, now I can say that I have had that unpleasant experience!

We have a stray cat that showed up here a couple of weeks ago that was so starved that she felt light as a feather when we picked her up. You couldn't tell she was that skinny by looking at her because she's a long hair cat, but I could feel every bone in her body. Her back feet had the skin off up to the joint and I don't know how that happened unless someone had kept her in a cage sitting in her urine and feces. It looked like the skin had been cut or burned off. She was so pitiful that I was determined to nurse her back to health. My plan was to get some weight back on her, and then take her to the vet, get her shots, give her a wormer and spay her.

I've managed to put some weight on her and the places on her feet have healed over and are looking much better. I like her, even though the rest of my cats don't care much for her. She has took to me and follows me every step I take. She was friendly (actually over-friendly!) from the start. I started calling her "Hairy Cat" and it sort of stuck.

She was so grateful that I took her in and fed her several times a day, that she brought me a present a couple of days ago. She dropped a bat at my feet. And not just any 'ol dead bat, but a real, live bat. I yelled for hubby, while looking at the bat lying on it's back with its wings folded over its body. It moved its wings a little and I thought it was hurt, but still alive. Hubby takes his boot off to throw at it and kill it, and right before he throws it, the bat spreads its wings and takes off. It was playing "possumn".

I thanked Hairy Cat for the unwanted present and went in the house. Then it hit me..rabies. What if the bat had rabies? I knew a live bat in a cat's mouth must have bit it. And how could a cat catch a bat if it wasn't sick and on the ground? We didn't have the bat to send off to be tested. And I know any stray cat who looked like she did most likely hadn't been vaccinated by its former owner.

I read up on it online and I had two choices. Either have the cat put to "sleep" by the vet and send it off for testing, or get her vaccinated and hope it would work after the fact if the bat had rabies. I chose to have her vaccinated.

Now I'm waiting and watching. I'm not picking her up or handling her for the time being, so I don't accidently get scratched, although it's supposed to be passed along with saliva. All my other cats are vaccinated, so I'm not worried about them being around her, and they won't come within ten feet of "that strange cat" anyway.

She's a nice cat and I pray everything turns out alright. Hubby thinks the bat just fell out of the eaves and she happened to be there when it fell, and that the bat probably wasn't sick. I hope he's right. We've been noticing bat droppings on the side of the house and suspected we had some. We'll be doing something about that very soon!

Sarah

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3:14 PM, Saturday, March 11, 2006, .. Posted by kayinpa

I think your kitty will be fine! Has there been a problem with rabies in your area?

When we lived in a barn (it was a little apartment in the loft of a barn with horses living underneath) :) the barn cat who befriended us brought me a rabbit once, never a bat. Did see a live bat close up and almost personal in a grocery store when we lived in NY! That was exciting.

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3:37 PM, Saturday, March 11, 2006, .. Posted by happyowl

Sarah, I think your little kitty will be fine. I also think you are a wonderful person for bringing in a stray and taking such good care of her. She is a lucky little kitty to have come to you.

Brightest blessings

Heather