Near-frozen cat gets new lease on life

By Judy Reed

There are a lot of animal lovers in Cedar Springs, and several good animal rescues in northern Kent County. They do great work all the time, but there were two incidents in the last week that really stood out.

According to the Kent County Animal Shelter Facebook page, Kent County Animal Control Officers received a call on Sunday, February 21, regarding a dog possibly stranded near an old grain elevator in Sand Lake. The dog had been heard barking for a few days per town residents. The caller had investigated the area and believed him to be stuck under a silo so contacted Animal Control for assistance. 

It goes on to say that the Animal Control Officers were met by two more caring citizens who had located the dog stranded in an old bunker style silo. Due to the smooth 10’ walls, there was no way for him to climb back out. 

With the help of town citizens, one who happened to be a previous Animal Control Officer, a long rope was able to be looped around the dog. He was quickly pulled out from the silo and placed on secure ground. 

Lost Paws, LLC, located a posting for a similar dog that had been missing from Howard City since January 8. They contacted the missing dog’s owners and were able to confirm the found dog was in fact, Milo a Springer Spaniel, that had last been spotted in early February. There had been no sightings of him for nearly two weeks.

Milo’s owners rushed to meet the Animal Control Officers and their beloved dog. He remembered them immediately and many tears were shed from everyone. 

“What all Milo experienced during his journey will never be known. However, we do know he survived frigid temps, snowstorms, hunger and dehydration. He lost 33 lbs and traveled nearly 20 miles over the past 43 days. What he nor his owners never lost was hope and hope is what finally reunited them.”

The other incident involved a stray cat that was found nearly frozen next to a Cedar Springs resident’s tire last week.

The person who found the cat posted about it in a social media post early last week and a reader of the post then contacted Crash’s Landing, a non-profit cat rescue in Grand Rapids. The cat rescue took the cat in. He was in very poor shape and not expected to make it through the night. What happened was a miracle. 

Here is how he was described by Dr. Jen at Crash’s Landing:

“His body temp won’t register after warming him gently and pushing 500mL of warm fluids. He is beyond dehydrated. His nose was pouring pus and his eyes glued shut, well there is no left eye and the right is scarred. He weighs 4.64 lbs. His mouth is rotten and his tongue ulcerated. He’s intact. He has fleas and horrible ear mites with nubs for ears. His tail is half missing – I don’t dare attempt to remove the encasing on the top tonight. He smells like a sewer. His paws are frost bitten. He’s barely moving but he’s still trying to live. He’s a miracle. He rode all the way to the clinic in my coat nestled close to my chest. He is here now as my husband Brian takes us home.”

She named the cat Finian, which means “handsome warrior.” And he has been a warrior! He’s getting healthier every day and is now up to 6.88 pounds. If you’d like to follow Finian’s journey, visit Crash Landing’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/crashslanding.bigsids. If you’d like to donate to help with his and other cats’ care, visit www.crashslanding.org.