Sad moment in the week.

Tough day. The tabby whose the kittens/cats father showed up lame. He had been missing for a little over a week.

The vet said his jaw was broken, most of the roof of his mouth was gone and deeply infected, half his tongue was missing and he had a wound on his right hip. His mouth is most likely the result of getting hold of an electric fence, and somewhere during his fight to get home he was attacked.

The thing that crushes me little heart is knowing from the moment it happened he had me in mind. He knew if he could just get home I'd do everything possible to help him. How he survived as long as he did without water or food is amazing. And to have fought his way home when he was in such incredible pain is even more so.

The vet said he might be able to repair him, but the most humane thing we could do was put him to sleep. I agreed. In fact, when I took him in I was pretty certain he wouldn't be coming out again.

As demented as it sounds, I'd rather see a human suffer any day than an animal. A human can at least express how he's feeling. He can also help himself in some way. An animal can't.

On the bright side, the ornery cat is no longer in pain, and for that I'm thankful.