Dolce
Sweetness is . . . a Feline Foundling
By Kathleen Downey
Dolce
Jan DeWitt had just turned onto Gardner Street in Salisbury the Friday before Hurricane Irene blew through the area. In her path was a horribly matted cat in obvious distress; the pitiful creature’s body shook with spasms as he turned in tight circles, incapable of walking a straight line. The injured feline couldn’t have been found by a more compassionate kitty angel than DeWitt, one of the founders of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS). DeWitt stopped her car and grabbed a blanket from the back seat.
“I wrapped the cat in the blanket and drove straight to Dr. Larsen,” DeWitt tells the story of her foundling. She wasn’t optimistic for the pathetic-looking cat’s survival. But she hoped to at least alleviate the poor cat’s suffering.
Upon Dolce’s arrival at Animal Health Center on Lafayette Road in Salisbury, Dr. Larsen and his veterinary technicians Nicole and Stephanie administered immediate care to the traumatized 8- to 10-year-old stray. Dr. Larsen suspected from the obvious head trauma that the cat had been hit by a car, with the cat’s right eye having received the brunt of impact. After examining the cat, Dr. Larsen concluded that the trauma had not just occurred, meaning that the stray may have been suffering in his painful condition for days. Nicole adds of the distressed feline, “All the whiskers on the right side of his face were broken off.”
Ultimately, Dr. Larsen had no choice but to remove the cat’s severely damaged right eye. Nicole and Stephanie cleaned the thick and disgusting debris from the stray cat’s ears, shaved his coat (which DeWitt had described as “one big, dirty pelt painfully hanging from his skin”), treated him for fleas and other parasites, and then inoculated the stray against rabies and distemper.
Dubbed Dolce, because of his sweet temperament, the forlorn feline had once been someone’s pet. The Persian cat had been neutered—and declawed. However, Dolce’s poor physical condition (apart from his injuries) indicated that he had been left defenseless on the street for months, if not years. And he was starving. The emaciated cat ravenously ate the food put before him.
“Dolce would have died if he had been left out another day or two,” Nicole says with certainty. The impending hurricane only added to Dolce’s dire circumstances.
“We weren’t sure that he’d live through the night,” Nicole said later. Not only did Dolce survive his first night, he awoke with a still-ravenous appetite and devoured his breakfast. But his cravings were not only for food—the abandoned cat also desperately craved affection. Undeterred by an initial feeble “hiss,” that Dolce emitted, Nicole and Stephanie gently stroked the banged-up Persian. Once they began, Nicole says, “He didn’t want us to stop.” Stephanie adds, “It’s like he couldn’t get enough attention.” Dolce purred, maybe for the first time in a long time.
Amazingly, Dolce’s blood work came back normal, with no indication of feline diseases or abnormalities. And though he appeared skeletal with his recently shaved coat, his skeleton was intact; he had suffered no broken limbs.
After spending a week at Animal Care Center, Dolce was transferred to the home of Stacy LeBaron, MRFRS president, so he could convalesce over the Labor Day weekend. LeBaron’s teenage daughter Rachel was immediately smitten with their gentle feline houseguest. Apparently, this feeling was mutual: Dolce purred loudly with affection while Rachel tenderly massaged his scalp.
Dolce and Rachel
At present, Dolce is residing at Muddy Creek Animal Care Center in Rowley. Says LeBaron, “We [MRFRS] have a partnership with Muddy Creek and its boarding facility, The Cat Tail Inn, where we house some of our adoptable cats—particularly purebreds like Dolce. Once Dolce is fully recovered and in stable health, he’ll be transferred to the Cat Tail Inn where potential adopters can meet him, so he can find that forever home that he deserves.”
Dolce is undergoing testing to determine whether or not he requires further veterinary treatment. During Dolce’s interim stay with LeBaron, daughter Rachel observed that he thrust his jaw to the side while he was eating. “Whether it’s his jaw or his teeth that are troubling him, we want to make sure he gets the care he needs,” LeBaron states. The vision in Dolce’s left eye and his hearing might also be impaired—conditions that will be relieved and corrected, if medically possible. Or, these conditions could be tallied to Dolce’s already idiosyncratic appeal.
LeBaron explains that Dolce’s extensive veterinary care is being covered under the auspices of the MRFRS, in part by the organization’s Captain Courageous Fund (CCF). The CCF provides local veterinarians with initial funding to administer lifesaving, emergency veterinary care to stray and feral cats—cats who might otherwise be euthanized because of their ownership-unknown status. This special fund is named in honor of The Captain, one of the first feral cats in the organization’s trap-neuter-return (TNR) program, an undertaking that ultimately stabilized Newburyport’s once bourgeoning feral cat population. (The Captain was profiled in an earlier edition of Newburyport Today.)
Instead of succumbing to his injuries, compounded by the prolonged and extensive neglect he suffered, Dolce—a one-eyed, cream-colored, gentleman feline whose tongue protrudes through his crooked smile—has been melting the hearts of all those who come in contact with him. DeWitt is thrilled that the broken cat she scooped from the street did not perish. Nicole and Stephanie of Animal Care Center admit to pining for the sweet boy. And LeBaron is certain that the staff at Muddy Creek has been instantly charmed by Dolce’s loving demeanor and persevering spirit. “He has something about him that makes everyone fall in love with him,” LeBaron says. LeBaron’s daughter Rachel is one who surely agrees.
If you would like to contribute to Dolce’s medical expenses—and help save the lives of other seriously injured and forgotten felines—please consider making a donation to the MRFRS Captain Courageous Fund. MRFRS: www.mrfrs.org; 63 Elm Street. Salisbury, MA, 01952.
MRFRS upcoming fundraising events include a Fall Yard Sale on Saturday, September 10; followed by a plant sale on Saturday, September 17. The MRFRS Fur Ball Fundraiser will be held on Saturday, October 22, at The Blue Ocean Music Hall. Visit www.mrfrs.org for all event details.
Kathleen Downey is the Features Editor for Newburyport Today. If you have an idea for a local story, send Kathleen an email at Kathleen@Newburyport-Today.com.
