Unfortunately, we have to share this world with cruel individuals who don’t have basic empathy skills. This gruesome story took place in St. Petersburg, Florida, and let me tell you why it made me livid. 

A small group of stray cats were living their best life in a small local community, where the neighbors were feeding and caring for them every day. 

One day, the neighbors in this community were shocked to notice one of their local strays dragging around with an arrow in his poor body!

The first person who came to the rescue was Jessica Kelly–Heckmann from Cat Trap Fever. The injured cat was hiding in a PVC pipe. She needed all the help to get him safely out of there.

It took hours, a dedicated team, and a total of three trips to HomeDepot to safely remove the cat from the 130-foot pipe. At first, they thought of euthanasia to end his suffering as shared on their Facebook page:

“While we considered an emergency vet for immediate euthanasia to end suffering, we feel strongly he is stable, alert, and awake enough to get the best outcome we could hope for, due to his unsocialized temperament.”

The Rocky Path To Recovery

The next day our little buddy went into surgery. Since Cat Trap Fever works closely with trusted vet clinics, everyone knew he was in good hands. Meanwhile, the community has given him a nickname – PAKman, as in Poor Arrow Kitty. 

The days after the surgery were a handful for Jessica. She kept everyone updated and made sure PAKman’s health was keeping up. As shared in one of the updates:

“He was discharged to our care with a heavy duty pain management, antibiotic and banded pressure application regimen.”

The arrow missed all vital organs, however, PAKman was still not out of the woods. As the day passed, he became more lethargic, he had trouble getting around, and he had no appetite.

Every time PAKman went to the vet, Cat Trap Fever made sure to inform and update all his followers online, as shared in a post:

“We’ll continue to encourage feedings and follow the vet regimen to the T, providing infinite love and comforts to the very special, handsome man. We appreciate your continued love, shares, prayers and support in this cat’s journey, so so much. He is so lucky to have so many folks in his corner.”

Since getting food in his system was crucial for his recovery, they had to send PAKman for another procedure. They surgically placed a fixed feeding tube and he recovered from the anesthesia in no time!

Once he started receiving more nutrients through the feeding tube, Jessica could see some improvement. 

Although she considered him a medical miracle, she was still pretty much worried, as shared in an update:

“If his condition, at any time, worsens instead of keeping steady or improving, we will have him back at the vet to investigate but for now, he’s a miracle of the veterinary medicine’s skillset and compassionate care and we are so proud of him and his perseverance!”

Shortly after, PAKman ended up with an infection. One of the wounds started releasing fluids, but Cat Trap Fever reassured everyone that this was completely normal. In fact, it only meant his little body was successfully fighting the infection. 

A Turn Of Events

Only two short weeks later, PAKman started eating on his own. He regained most of his strength, but still, two more wounds were in the healing process. He was wearing a rib cage compression and Jessica was thinking about removing his feeding tube!

Since the previous infection worked its way, they had to restitch his wounds. Cat Trap Fever made sure to keep everyone updated: 

“Friday’s suture work was another artistic marvel! Thank you, @animal health Care clinic for working so diligently to get this guy to optimal health with us. They will see him again Friday and the following Friday, sutures will be removed, so long as everything is healing well.”

From this point on, PAKmans journey went only uphill. Everywhere they went, he was a complete star and everyone wanted to snuggle him. He even got his own Valentine’s card!

Happily Ever After

If you thought by now that Jessica was going to adopt PAKman, trust me, you’re not the only one. Half of the internet and myself thought the same.

However, a loving caregiver bonded with PAKman and was ready to give him the happiest ending ever! Cat Trap Fever posted about this as well: 

“Tonight, she’s crying happy tears for him. He’s being adopted by one of his loving caregivers. He’ll be the center of their household and we can’t think of a better reunion with the family that he knows and loves.”

Jessica will, of course, remain in his life. She will gladly take on the role of a godmother, which she definitely deserves.