Earlier this month, Florida was one of the many landmasses severely affected by the wrath of Hurricane Irma. Cannibal Corpse and Trivium frontmen checked in with fans regarding the storm and their situation, and now Obituary's drummer Donald Tardy is checking in as well… though about something very different.
Tardy tells Revolver that the night before the storm, he noticed a kitten on his neighbor's property. He says he and his family "offered to help trap it for the people who owned the house, but they were not willing," leaving Tardy to have to rescue this cat himself. He says he wasn't able to capture the cat before the storm, but went out the next day to try again.
So, right as Hurricane Irma was on top of Florida, and just a few minutes before the brunt of the storm was set to be more or less on top of me, I went back in the pouring rain with my net and trap. I snuck up the the front bushes where I thought the kitten would be hiding. I saw it immediately, but it saw me as well, and ran from me. That was when I realized that there was something wrong with the kitten. Its back end was not working right: It had a bad limp, and its back legs didn't seem to be working properly. I knew right then that this was a serious issue, a much bigger situation I was putting myself in, but I was not going to leave it behind — so I got deeper into the bushes until the kitten was scared enough that it tried to run from me. It came out of the thick bush; because it was either injured or sick, it was not fast enough to get under the fence, giving me my opportunity. I dove onto the driveway, netted the kitten, took it by the scruff of its neck and got it into my carrier.
At this point, the rain and wind were picking up. The trees were beginning to blow sideways. I had to make that decision to go straight home with the kitten, and I put it in a cage 'til the storm passed. I still didn't know if it was sick or injured — and if so, to what extent — so I drove to my local emergency vet, with whom we have worked very closely with for the past 12 years. They were kind enough to examine the kitten to determine what was wrong. I am pretty experienced with assessing these types of things, and I had a feeling it was either FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) or trauma. After telling the vet what I saw and thought, I remained in the examining room while the doctor checked out the kitten. She immediately noticed the kitten had no feeling in its tail, and limited mobility in its back legs. It — or rather she, it was a little female — was partially paralyzed in her back end, likely from getting hit by a car, or a human.
Tardy says he surrendered the kitten to a vet, who unfortunately had to amputate its tail. Tardy says other than that, the vet has deemed the cat to be healable, and "entered into an adoption program to find a forever home as a special needs pet."
So hooray! Finally some good news in metal!
