Lincoln (I)

There are two cats with the name Lincoln living at the sanctuary. Here's the incredible story of the first one, provided by Lisa (originally published in The Love Blog, July 2009):

"Our precious Lincoln dragged himself into a woman's kitchen through her cat door after (we guess) being hit by a car. When RAPS got him he was immediately taken to our vet. He had X rays as he couldn't walk properly on his hind end. The X-Rays showed that his hips were completely shattered. Our vet instructed us that Lincoln must have complete cage rest for at least a couple of months if he had any possibility of healing.

After 3 months, we did another set of X-Rays only to find that his hips were still not healed. 2 more months, same thing - not healed. By this time, Lincoln was walking well, and pacing back and forth in his little cage, getting restless so we chanced moving him into a bigger cage and he did great!

Lincoln was climbing the mesh walls, and scratching on his post like a normal cat. We were scared he would re-injure himself but he seemed fine. After a few more months, and more X-Rays (which still showed that his hips are completely shattered) we decided to let him out of the cage to see what happened.

He is doing great! Lincoln goes up and down the cages and the scratching posts like any other cat. He is a bit of a medical mystery as our vet can not explain why he seems to have no pain. It may be that his pain receptors in his hind end do not work (which obviously works in his favor)."

Lincoln is a mystery indeed. Interacting with him, it's hard to see how he's different than any of the other cats. Perhaps in his case a little obliviousness is a good thing - he can walk and climb and play because it just doesn't occur to him that there's any reason he shouldn't be able to.