It started, as so many do, with a message for help on our Facebook page: a pregnant cat was seen sitting near the Kotor hospital. She was limping, blind in one eye and appeared to have an injured tail… The person who reported it was unable to help her or take her to our vet.
Thus began the story of Živi and the remarkable “Community Connections“ put together by Kotor Kitties volunteers to help her out of a desperate situation.
The problem was complicated by our Kotor partner vet’s annual vacation and by COVID travel restrictions: people weren’t allowed to cross municipal boundaries, but our closest partner vet was a long drive and 2 boundaries away in Herceg Novi.
The chain of volunteers linking this cat to help soon took shape:
· Danijela K., the godmother of all Kotor Kitties, located the cat, put her in a carrier, and took her in a taxi to the border of Kotor and Tivat. She described the cat as frightened but gentle
· Michèle A. met them at the Tivat-Kotor border and drove the cat to the far north end of Tivat. There they walked on the ferry and rode across to the border of Herceg Novi
· Irina M. a volunteer in Herceg Novi, collected the cat from Michèle and drove her to our partner vet, DVM Bozo Perisić at Novi Vet, for evaluation and treatment
Interestingly enough, Dr. Pericić found the kitty was not pregnant, but had very recently given birth, triggering an immediate but unsuccessful search for her kittens in Kotor. He spayed her, removed her damaged eye, and found no discernable damage to her leg to account for the limp, or to the tail. Her tail was coated with something that had dried on—probably afterbirth that she was too weak or depressed to clean up.
That evening Irina took the cat home to recover overnight. Soon her journey continued:
· Volunteers Richard and Yvonne S., from the little town of Risan, Kotor, met Irina at the eastern boundary of Herceg Novi-Kotor. They took the kitty back to their home for further recovery.
Restricted to one room for quarantine during her stay with them, the little cat gradually came out of hiding and warmed up. Yvonne reported that she loved to have ear scritches, was always happy to eat, and loved to relax in a patch of sunshine.
Yvonne proposed the name „Živi” for the little cat, as she faced the prospect of a happy life ahead after whatever disaster led to her sad situation when she was found in Kotor. „Život” is the Montenegrin word for “life”.
A follow-up trip to DVM Relja Cetkovic, our partner vet in Kotor, assured that her eye removal was healing well. He suggested that her continued limp might be related to her pelvis following the birth and gave her a pain killer/relaxant to see if it cleared up. It did! When the analgesic was finished a few days later, there was no trace of the limp.
With the clean bill of health, Živi was ready to begin another road in her adventure as a Kotor Kitty: a placement awaited her in the wonderful shelter, “Faithful Heart”, which cares for special needs cats and dogs. They find permanent adoptive homes for many of them. The only problem remaining was how to get her across several municipal borders between Kotor and the shelter.
· Volunteer Jane M. agreed to meet Živi at the border of Budva and Kotor, and care for her for 2-3 days, until another ride was going from Budva to Podgorica/the shelter. When a car breakdown delayed the final part of the ride to Podgorica, Zivi stayed longer with Jane, who then arranged a travel pass to deliver her in person to Podgorica.
Živi is now safe in Zhanna Kanagovskai’s care at the Faithful Heart shelter, outside Podgorica.
Our hearts are full of gratitude to the many volunteers who kept Živi safe and helped her along the way to a new life. We hope she will find all the love and stability that every companion animal deserves!
If you or someone you know is ready to make a lifetime commitment to a cat, we hope you will consider Živi! She is a sweet-natured, loving cat who has maintained her sunny disposition through unknown trauma and the chaos of multiple moves in recovery. She deserves a loving and permanent home.
Živi is settling in at the Faithful Heart shelter in Montenegro to wait for her own special adopter.
The right person will discover her sweet and gentle nature, and the calm adaptability with which she faced the many challenges life threw at her recently. Now all we wish for her is a stable and permanent home.