Injured Cat Rescued From Side of BQE

A group of feline-friendly rescuers joined forces and rescued a young, injured cat from the side of the BQE yesterday afternoon.

Kevin Wolff initially spotted the kitty on the side of the BQE, underneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, while on his way to work Monday, the Daily News reports. Due to the slow moving traffic, Wolff was able to see the cat on the side of the road.

Wolff posted a message on Facebook where a friend of Anne Levin’s learned about the news and texted her the information. Levin is the President of the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and Manager of the Brooklyn Cat Café, which are both located in Brooklyn Heights, close to the BQE.

Levin and a friend were already on their way to the vet when they received the text about the distressed cat at about 4pm on Tuesday. They loaded up another pet carrier into their car and headed for the BQE.

“We decided we would try to drive slowly on the BQE and see if we could stop or pull over,” Levin told BKLYNER over the phone from the Cat Café. “Traffic was going pretty slow already – it was in the late afternoon – we put on our blinkers and approached the place where the cat was supposed to be.”

“We didn’t see her at first. We thought something had happened or she moved,” she continues. “I got out and walked up and…she was just so wet, matted, and drenched, she looked like debris up against the wall.”

Levin approached the cat, threw a towel over her, and “grabbed her really quickly so she couldn’t run off and injure herself more,” she explains. “I wouldn’t let go of her until I got her into the carrier.”

The rescuers brought the cat to Park Slope Veterinary Center at 639 4th Avenue (at 19th Street) where Doctor Yvonne Szacki examined the injured kitty. The doctor estimates the cat to be about one-year-old.

“She apparently had been out there for a while. She was really cold… She’s very anemic right now, so she probably had been bleeding for a while,” Levin says.

The cat suffered a degloving injury—the skin and fur were completely removed from her tail and lower back.

“It looks like she’s going to have to have her tail amputated which of all the things that could have potentially happened, it’s bad but it’s not terrible. It’s certainly something she can recover from,” Levin says.

Levin has nicknamed her new feline friend Suzy BQE. Her surgery will cost about $1,000, so donations to help cover the medical costs would be very much appreciated.

After surgery Levin says they’ll keep a close watch on Suzy BQE and ensure she’s in purrfect health before putting her up for adoption.

“We’re going to keep her until she’s comfortable in a foster home, until she’s fully back to health,” Levin says.

“Then we’ll make sure that she’s in a safe and happy forever home so she can stay off freeways in the future.”

To contribute to Suzy BQE’s medical care, click here.