This Poor Woman...I'd Be Suicidal :-(
30/07/2004 08:10 AM - (SA)
Disaster strikes Nona and her cat haven
29-07-2004
SOMERSET WEST'S cat woman, Nona Cockerell, is devastated. She has lost all her cats to a deadly virus in a matter of weeks. Not one has survived the tragedy. "Not even my lovely Persians. They are all gone," a grief-stricken Nona said this week. Some of the cats had been with her for 16 years.
Her nightmare started late last year, when the secluded house where she and her 53 cats had lived in peace and harmony for many years, was sold on public auction after her ex-husband ran into financial difficulties. Desperate to find another safe place for her and her cats to live, Nona turned to the media for help.
Many people responded to the newspaper reports, but most were only curious to see under what conditions anyone could live with so many cats. Those who expected a smelly home were amazed to find a hygienic, odourless cat haven with stacked beds, catwalks and a fenced-off, covered garden.
But the newspaper reports also led to people dumping their unwanted cats on Nona, two of them mothers with kittens. She was also asked to rescue a litter of kittens that was drowning on a roof-top in the CBD area. The 16 newcomers would eventually cost the lives of all her cats.
All 53 her cats were neutered and all annually had their injections. Last year, for the first time, Nona put down three cats. All were about 20 years old.
In May, some of the new cats, who had had their first set of inoculations, became sick with diarrhoea.
Nona put them in quarantine in her "sick bay" and took them to a vet for treatment. She was shocked when told that it could be a deadly virus and that the cats would have to be put down. Her best friend, who had come for a visit, offered to pay for costly tests to be done on two of the cats when she saw what a good condition they were in.
These were done and the vet phoned to say the results showed the virus was not deadly.
"I was so happy when I was told the cats were okay and did not have to be put down," says Nona. Trusting the vet, she took the cats out of the quarantine area. But within a week, her other cats started falling around with high fever. Her own vet had left by then and she turned to a new vet, who told her that the cats had contracted a deadly virus and could not be saved. "The sad part is that there is an inoculation available for the virus, which is usually only known to breeders. Had I known about it, my cats could all have been saved."
The vet was not very sympathetic, says Nona. She had spent R7 000 on inoculations and treatment, but now was told to not run up any debt, as all treatments were on a cash-only basis.
When it became clear that her cats were suffering, Nona called another vet to her home to have them put down. She held every beloved cat on her lap as the vet, Keith Viljoen, kindly talked to each of them before giving the lethal injection. She had to endure this heartbreaking procedure several times that week. A friend paid the euthanasia costs.
"It feels as if my life has been taken away," a devastated Nona said on Monday. "I'm angry and bitter and have been avoiding contact with people, But I must get through it and try to finish the book which I have been working on for the past two years. It will be called Animals have Feelings and will record the story of my cats."
The irony is that the new owner has honoured Nona's long-lease rental of the house. But her home - and heart - is now empty.
