CASEY CAMPBELL | Gazette-Times Buddy the cat is resting at the Corvallis Cat Care Veterinary Hospital after having his back left leg and part of his tail amputated by a train that ran over him.

Buddy’s brush with destiny: Hit by a train, he’s doing well but lost a leg

By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter

Buddy the cat has a new nickname, but he of the aquamarine eyes might not appreciate it. Staff members at the Corvallis Cat Care Veterinary Hospital have labeled him “Dances with Trains,” and although it’s unclear how many lives the train snatched away from Buddy a week ago Friday, he is still going strong.

Buddy lives in northeast Corvallis, right next to a busy train track that runs along Highway 99W. It’s not quite clear how Buddy got trapped on the tracks Friday. He might have gotten stuck between the tracks and a high concrete wall that surrounds them. He might have been eating a bird and didn’t want to give it up as the train came by. Whatever the reason, the train ran over Buddy’s back left leg, completely destroying the leg from below the haunch to the paw.

When neighbors found Buddy sprawled underneath a daphne bush in his owner’s yard, his paw was hanging literally by a thread. There was nothing else connecting it to the rest of his leg.

They rushed Buddy to the Corvallis Cat Care Veterinary Hospital, and although Dr. Sharon Blouin had already been prepared for a seriously injured cat, she was astonished, not only at the extent of his injuries, but at the fact that other than the leg and damage to his tail tip, he was completely unscathed.

She feared that Buddy might have been caught in some sort of illegal steel-jawed trap, so Jim George, who assists at the clinic, went out to Buddy’s neighborhood to see what he could find. As soon as he saw the tracks, he suspected he knew the answer, and after walking them for a distance, he found a big patch of Buddy hair on the tracks, in a spot where a cat could easily get caught.

Buddy is sort of a communal cat in the neighborhood, but his primary owner is Susan Lane. She had been at a work retreat in Newport, but rushed back to see Buddy. At first, she thought it was best that Buddy be euthanized. She feared for his quality of life, and wasn’t sure she could afford the amputation surgery he’d need.

“I just didn’t know what my options were,” Lane said.

Blouin told Lane that Buddy was too young and too healthy to be put down. He was in great shape considering how injured he was, and spent his time calmly looking at the vet staff. Blouin said his eyes clearly said “Go on, y’all. Do something about this leg.”

“Tripods do really well,” she said, although most people don’t realize that a healthy animal can do fine with an amputated leg.

Instead of putting him down, Blouin suggested that Lane surrender Buddy to the clinic, which would pick up his vet bills as part of a “good Samaritan” fund. Lane agreed, and Buddy became a ward of the clinic.

Lane would love to have Buddy back in her life, but knows there’s no way she could afford to pay for his vet bill, which now totals around $2,300. Blouin has offered to pay for $1,000 of the surgery if Lane can raise the additional $1,300, but even with the help of neighbors, Lane said it’s not feasible.

However, she hopes that someone in the community with a big heart could make room for Buddy in their home, and perhaps help chip in for part of his surgery costs as well. She wishes a special person would step forward. But she’ll miss him.

“I’d like for him to find a really good home,” she said. “He deserves a good life.”

Buddy had his amputation surgery Saturday, and a senior from the Oregon State Veterinary School volunteered her time to help Blouin with the surgery.

He is already making a good recovery, although his calm demeanor was disturbed Tuesday morning when a delivery man wheeling oxygen tanks into the building scared him, possibly because it sounded like a train.

He purrs and “makes muffins” with his paws, and is incredibly placid when Dr. Blouin opens the cage to check on him. His amputation has left him with just enough of a stump to protect his soft belly, but not enough to drag him down with dead weight. Because he’s so athletic, he should be perfectly mobile when he recovers.

Blouin said it’s not uncommon for pets to be euthanized because major accidents are simply too expensive for many people to handle. She has started recommending an inexpensive form of pet insurance that covers accidents like being hit by a car or attacked by another animal. The cost is less than $10 a month, and covers 80 percent of a vet bill for an accident, up to $2,500.

To inquire after Buddy, or to make a contribution to the veterinary hospital’s good Samaritan fund, call 753-2287