On September 23, 2008 a young bobcat and her sibling were hit by a car on C470 near Morrison road. Lakewood animal control officer Jamie Johnston responded and rescued the one surviving bobcat that morning. The Division of Wildlife gave approval for the bobcat to be rushed to Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, where dedicated veterinarians and vet staff worked very hard for several hours that day diagnosing, treating, performing surgery on 2 broken legs, and caring for the cat to stabilize her for discharge to rehab. The surgery was tricky and the placement of a couple of the pins was necessary to repair the two broken legs. The bobcat would need to go back to Deer Creek for regular follow-up and close monitoring of the legs. The bobcat would also need to have limited movement for the time being, as climbing or jumping would be disastrous to the healing process.

Upon her admission to rehab, the cat was carefully and quietly monitored to ensure she came out of anesthesia and surgery okay. She was given supplemental heat, peace, and quiet. Caring citizens and the media were calling but out of respect and consideration of the cat, and in compliance with the laws regarding wildlife rehab, only the cat's licensed rehabber caregiver was allowed near the cat.

Other than some grogginess, the cat appeared to have tolerated her treatment well. By day 2 she was eating a proper bobcat diet of rodents, which contained her medicine. Arriving to rehab she weighed about 7 pounds; a very small bobcat indeed! However, she continued to steadily improve in rehab and grew considerably. At her 3-week recheck at Deer Creek she was x-rayed and Dr. Brod determined that all was progressing well but there was still some concern that one of the legs would heal correctly. Time would tell, and we would just have to wait and see.

At her last and final checkup, the bobcat had doubled in weight and after a series of x-rays, the happy news was that the legs had healed properly. Due to the limited movement necessitated for healing during her recovery, the muscles in her legs had some atrophy. She will need to spend an unspecified time in an outdoor enclosure to rebuild the muscles necessary to hunt and survive in the wild.

Ellicott Wildlife Rehab. Center would like to thank the caring citizens, Lakewood Animal Control, the Division of Wildlife, and Deer Creek Animal Hospital for the prompt and caring effort that began the bobcat on her road to recovery.

We would also like to thank all of the media and the well wishers who took so much interest in her story.

Special Thank Yous to:

Bob Wagner

Sue Cranston

Peggy and Joe Wrabetz

Tom O'Toole

There are no words to express our gratitude to Deer Creek Animal Hospital for volunteering their time and donating their services to help care for injured wildlife for EWRC over the last 10 years.

Donations are being accepted to feed the bobcat until her release. Donations can be made via checks to EWRC with Bobcat on the memo line.

For more information and to see the bobcat Rehab Cam, visit us at www.ellicottwildlife.com soon.

EWRC

P.O. Box 75069

Colorado Springs, CO. 80970