Claudia Mustafa got in her car two days before Christmas to take her mother from Long Island, New York, to New Jersey. It turned out to be an adventure they would never forget.
Mustafa informed The Dodo that his mother had been visiting for a while and had gotten my son’s siсkness. “‘It’s best if I go home so… I can get better on my own,’ she remarked.”
Mustafa chose to take the Bruckner Expressway through the Bronx for reasons she doesn’t fully understand, despite the fact that she knew it would be busier.
“It was around 12:40 or 12:45 a.m., and I remember glancing at the clock and saying it’ll take an hour to go to New Jersey,” Mustafa added. “I looked ahead and noticed something hairy since the sun was shining a little bit.”
The hairy thing was jammed against the highway’s median strip, which separated the two sides. The first thing that came to Mustafa’s mind was that it was roadkiII. But it was only until the automobile in front of her passed the item that she realized it was a cat.
“When I saw the ears flicker, I said, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s not something you’d find by the side of the road. “It’s still alive,” Mustafa explained. “I noticed his eyes blinking quickly due to the wind gusts.”
There was no shoulder for her to pull into because the road was congested. Mustafa, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to get past the cat.
She slammed on her brakes, turned on her hazard lights, and stepped out onto the road, oblivious to the honking automobiles in front of her.
“I uttered a little prayer.” “I pleaded, ‘Please kitty, don’t go away because then I’m going to have to watch you die and feel likе it’s my responsibility,” Mustafa said.
Thankfully, the cat remained still – he appeared terrified. Mustafa, on the other hand, couldn’t believe he’d made it this far.
“There was no room,” she explained. “The cat had curled up against the concrete median in a little ball.” The automobiles were driving close by this cat, and when I picked him up, he was covered in debris, including rocks and mud from the road, since he was so terrified to move. It was really terrible, it was simply tragic.”
Mustafa slid the cat into the back seat of her car and got back behind the wheel.
“I arrived home eventually and pulled him out of the car,” Mustafa added. “He was meowing,” says the narrator.
Because the cat, now called Bruckner, was so friendly, Mustafa assumed he’d belonged to someone and had been placed on the highway on purpose.
Bruckner’s leg was also seriously wounded, which she observed.
“From the ankle down, his leg was at a 90-degree angle,” Mustafa added. “I’m guessing he was sprinting and was hit from behind by a car.”
Mustafa called the veterinarian’s office where she brings her dog, Cookie, and got a last-minute appointment. The vet had good news and terrible news when he checked Bruckner: the good news was that he could preserve Bruckner’s leg, but the bad news was that it would cost $5,500.
This was a significant sum of money for Mustafa, who is disabled and has a small kid to support. As a result, the clinic’s employees devised other plans. They advised bringing Bruckner to a local shelter if the price was too high, but Mustafa was unable to do so.
“I thought to myself, ‘[A shelter] isn’t going to invest $5,500 to fix his leg or do surgery,’” Mustafa explained. “No one will want to deal with him, and he will most likеly be euthanized.”
Mustafa talked to her husband, and when she heard what he said, she sobbed.
“My husband replied, ‘We should give him a chance of survival,’” Mustafa explained. “I started sobbing because I thought this was going to be the answer, and we went forward with the procedure.”
Mustafa said, “The doctor felt we were insane.” “We’d just spent $1,200 on our dog’s fatty tumor removal, and now we’re paying $5,500 on a cat that isn’t even ours.” We’ll be in debt as a result of this cat, but that’s fine. When the time comes, we’ll deal with it.”
The operation went well, but Bruckner will need to be confined in a kennel for the next few months as he recovers. Mustafa and her husband, on the other hand, are giving him all the care they can.
“My husband used to despise cats, but now he’s likе, ‘Oh, look at him, he’s making that sound,’” Mustafa said. “He assumed something was wrong with him, so I told him, ‘No, he’s purring.’ ‘It’s a nice thing,’ says the narrator.
Mustafa added, “My dog is likе a diva.” “I can’t even embrace my husband because she’ll leap up and scratch his arm to get away from me,” she says. I’m a little worried since she’s really jealous.”
A rеscuе company named For Animals, Inc. volunteered to help Bruckner find a new home if he needed one, and Mustafa is appreciative for their assistance.
“It’s a tragic narrative,” Mustafa remarked, “but with him, there’s a beautiful ending.”