It was the cat’s lucky day when the housecleaner was sick. If the cleaner had come on her regular day, she wouldn’t have been there to drive off the dog that had come onto our property, dragged the cat off our back porch and was tearing her to pieces. It was lucky that my office is next door, or I wouldn’t have gotten the cat to the emergency room before she bled to death. It was lucky that the emergency room has a “cat triage” squad that was able to stabilize her and get her out of her agony. It was amazingly lucky that the puncture wound to the right lung sealed itself. It was lucky that one of the finest veterinarian surgeons in the world (Dr. Tamara Walker) worked at that hospital. It was lucky that the surgeon had performed surgery on a dog shortly before and had ordered graft materials and had some leftover, or the damage to her mouth would have been inoperable. It was lucky that we had the time, energy and money to nurse the cat on a feeding tube for 14 weeks. It was lucky that this 15 year old, toothless female cat had such a strong will to live. The damage was extensive. She had multiple puncture wounds all over her body. She had two broken ribs and a punctured lung. She had a fractured skull, a broken eye socket, severe damage to the left eye and a palette that had been shattered and driven into her sinuses. Through determination, skill and a whole lot of luck, she is still alive today, 19 months and counting. Oh by the way, the cat’s name? Lucky!