Saved
Ivory Bumble gets a second, third, maybe more, chance
After two years of trying, Stacy Bauer, NBCR board member, trapped the cat that had eluded her for so long. Stacy says, “This poor guy has been in my neighborhood for a few years - gradually looking more and more pitiful. I have never been able to trap him - he totally ignores the trap no matter what I put in it. Off and on he shows up 
once, maybe twice a week on a different street corner, but has been MIA for the last several weeks.” One night she spied him out looking for food, so she set the trap and drove around the block to wait. After about 20 minutes, he finally went in the trap! He was furious. But she thinks he just gave up and went in because he hurt so badly.
Waiting for Relief
He had disappeared recently because he was in pain waiting for a huge abscess to rupture on his neck. It finally did and he had skin hanging off his head and neck for a month or two. Stacy says “this poor guy is so pitiful, you have to love him. He has a (previously) fractured lower
jaw where his teeth stick out; most of his incisors are gone; his eyes are shaped funny, and he is terrified. But now he is neutered and vaccinated (thanks to the Hamlins, our veterinarian and his wife); amazingly, he tested FeLV/FIV negative.” He is now living on the back patio at Stacy’s house, in a kitty condo.
At the vet’s office, they scrubbed and clipped the hair on his neck, gave him a pain shot, and an antibiotic injection. He is a pretty tough cookie! Stacy laughs and says she petted him everywhere while he was under (probably because that will be the last time for a very long time). “I love him already and can’t wait to kiss him - on his crooked mouth!” said Stacy.
“I am going to try and bring him in if he settles down. Well, he will just have to settle down,” Stacy says wistfully. “I just cannot put him back out on the street. But he is scared to death.”
Naming a Train Wreck
Stacy has named him Ivory Bumble. Ivory, because he is white (you couldn’t tell when she first trapped him) and shows his broken tusks all the time. Bumble came from the 1964 classic movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Bumble was the name of the Abominable Snowmonster in the movie.
When the cold weather hit, she decided she had to move his condo inside the house. But when they started to move it around he got too upset, so they covered it with blankets to block the wind and left it on the patio against the house. After this, he started eating both breakfast and supper, so she thinks he is settling down a little. Thankfully, he took the antibiotic pills in each meal.
Stacy says, “I feel so sad that he is outdoors, but I have to remember he was always outside, so he would be hunkered down in some shrubs or in an alley or under a car if I did not have him. I have to think he is used to the outside, and it is where he is most comfortable for now, even in a cage.” She knows that being indoors, 
even in the condo, would totally freak him out, and the garage wasn’t an option because it is always up and down. She says, “We are just taking it a day at a time. He sleeps a lot (when he does not hiss at me). I think he is just exhausted. He does have the saddest face, even when he is hissing at me with those crooked teeth.” (Ivory Bumble is still in the condo but it is now inside the house.)
Cleaning Machine
Since Stacy first rescued him, Ivory has been a cleaning machine. He now has a beautiful white coat and his eyes are looking much better.
If you want to keep up with what is happening with Ivory Bumble, Stacy will be posting updates on the NBCR blog. 