12 Saves of Christmas – Rico – FieldHaven’s Heartwarming Save #8
12 Saves of Christmas – FieldHaven’s Heartwarming Save #8: Rico
Each day, we will share one of FieldHaven’s 12 most heartwarming cat saves of 2020. Each happy story was made possible through your generosity!
Rico lived at Recology waste management campus in Marysville, and he was a favorite of some of the workers there. Each day, Rico would show up at lunchtime to hang out and staffers would share their lunches with him.
One day, they noticed that Rico seemed to be hurt but he wouldn’t let anyone get near him. Then he disappeared – they didn’t see him for several days and his friends became really worried.
Finally, after many days passed, they spotted Rico walking toward them at lunchtime. But he was not himself. He was moving very slowly and his tail was down – not straight up in greeting as it usually was. As he got closer, they were sure something was wrong as he had an awful odor.
One of the men called Jeanie at FieldHaven, knowing she would help, and Jeanie went to pick Rico up right away. She took him to one of FieldHaven’s partner veterinarians, Companion Veterinary Clinic in Auburn.
When Dr. Sanchez examined Rico, she found a very large infected wound under his armpit that extended several inches under the flesh. Additionally, he had other wounds on his leg and a laceration under his eye. He was severely dehydrated and anemic.
Dr. Sanchez wanted Rico to regain some strength before putting him under anesthesia. He received fluids, food, antibiotics and TLC and, on the third day, Rico had surgery to clean up the wounds so they could begin to heal. Each day for weeks, he received wound care and bandage changes. All the while Rico remained patient and calm, allowing the veterinary team to tend to his injuries. He began putting on weight and was getting stronger.
Rico’s friends at Recology kept track of his progress. As the day neared for Rico to be released from the hospital, they said they would love to have their lunch buddy back but, if a safer home could be found, they would be happy for Rico.
As it turned out, Dr. Sanchez and the team at Companion Veterinary Clinic had fallen in love with Rico and wanted to adopt him as a full-time clinic cat. Rico is now one of three Executive Cat Staff at the clinic where he helps with greeting customers and other tasks as needed.
If not for your incredible support, we would not be here for cats like Rico.
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