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Muffin
Cats and dogs sometimes do not handle
the stress of travel very well. The evacuation of New Orleans prior to
Hurricane Katrina created an unprecedented traffic gridlock. The trip out
of the city (normally completed in 1 – 2 hours) often took more than 12 to
18 hours to complete. This unprecedented exodus consumed the resources of
surrounding cities which further complicated or extended the journey for
most travelers.
One cat owner from River Ridge, La.,
knew from past experience that her pet Muffin often became ill during
travel and would not handle such a trip. When she evacuated the city, she
arranged to leave Muffin with family members in New Orleans East who had
decided to stay home. After the storm, Muffin and her extended family were
trapped on the roof as flood waters filled their home and neighborhood. The family was rescued from the rooftop by helicopter, but officials would
not allow them to bring Muffin. They were forced to leave their cat alone
on the roof amidst the chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Fortunately, the family was able to
alert officials from the humane society to the cat’s location. Volunteers
retrieved Muffin by boat and she was admitted to the overloaded shelter
system set up at the Lamar-Dixon Expo center.
 Caretakers and veterinarians at the
shelter recognized that Muffin soon became ill. She was treated
supportively, but eventually transferred to the LSU School of Veterinary
Medicine for treatment. Muffin was diagnosed with fatty liver syndrome, a
terrible feline illness which is commonly triggered by stress and
starvation. Fatty liver syndrome (or hepatic lipidosis) was common in cats
rescued from the storm.
Muffin benefited from aggressive care
for her disease and soon was improving rapidly. Her care was paid for by
the Spirit of Veterinary Medicine Hurricane Relief fund set up by the
School of Veterinary Medicine and generous donors from across the country.
Unfortunately, Muffin had arrived at
LSU with no record of ownership and no means to contact her family. Like
many pets, Muffin had no permanent form of identification.
Volunteers at LSU painstakingly
searched through uncountable lost pet ads and eventually located Muffin’s
owner through
http://www.petfinder.com/. They were able to contact her owner in
Houston via e-mail and send digital photographs to confirm her identity.
Although a happy reunion soon followed, this miraculous reunion was missed
by the volunteers who made it possible, as they had returned to their
lives after completing their mission.
“Oh my God!
That is Muffin—that is my cat. I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I am
leaving for New Orleans tonight. I can't tell you how much I appreciate
this…. She looks pretty bad but I do believe that the cat in the pictures
is mine.”
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