After Cruelty Left Him Pierced With An Arrow, Love Saved Cupid The Cat

Written by: Kelli Brinegar
For more than five years, Kelli Brinegar has been using her ability to write and her passion for research to tell the tale of what cats are thinking and why. She has provided care to more than 30 cats in her lifetime.Read more
| Published on February 13, 2023

SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING: Graphic images of injury

Love knows no bounds, and thanks to the loving hearts of a Colmar, Pennsylvania, cat rescue, ginger cat Cupid is surrounded with affection and security while he recovers from being shot by an arrow.

Stray Cat Blues hopes to find Cupid his forever home by Valentine’s Day, but this poor kitty has to recover from his wounds first. Those injuries are pretty major, as Cupid carried the arrow embedded in his body for more than a week before he could be captured. And while these cat lovers are helping him through, they’re also working with the police to find justice for Cupid.

An Agonizing Week

A full week before the start of February, the Perkiomen Animal Hospital received a report from a woman who spotted a cat with an arrow shot through his back. When Stray Cat Blues saw the pictures she’d snapped of Cupid, they immediately got involved, sharing on Facebook, “After seeing the pictures of this injured cat, we knew we could not rest until we found him, and we immediately started searching.”

“Many hours were spent searching in the woods, handing out fliers to the neighbors, and setting traps at multiple sites,” Stray Cat Blues shared.

But it would be eight days before Cupid was caught over a mile away from where he was first spotted and “had crossed a major intersection,” as Heather Heilman with Stray Cat Blues told WPVI ABC6.

“It was an I can’t believe it moment …We didn’t think we would get him. He had been out so long,” said Heather.

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By the time Cupid was captured, the arrow had come out, leaving behind raw, gaping wounds. He was rushed to Quakertown Animal Hospital for emergency treatment, where Dr. Arielle Schoenlein was one of the team working on Cupid.

“The arrow went into his left shoulder, over his neck,” explained Dr. Schoenlein. “So it missed all of his major nerves, arteries, his spinal cord, but it definitely caused a lot of trauma.”

Cupid was put on antibiotics and pain medicine, and coupled with all the care from the veterinary staff; this ginger lad was definitely feeling the love.

Advocating for Cupid

It was anything but love that landed Cupid in care, though. It was the very opposite of love, in fact. Stray Cat Blues put it plainly when they wrote, “This is animal cruelty.”

“NO ANIMAL should ever endure suffering like this.”

And that’s why Stray Cat Blues is working with police to investigate what happened to Cupid. While Dr. Schoenlein and Stray Cat Blues are trying to keep an open mind, Dr. Schoenlein said, “This definitely seems like this might have been intentional. We don’t know. He can’t tell us so we can just advocate for him.”

Recovering in Foster Care

And now, Cupid is on the mend and has settled into his foster home, where he’s enjoying more love and time to heal. While Stray Cat Blues isn’t taking applications just yet, stay tuned because soon Cupid will be ready for his forever home. And hopefully it will come before Valentine’s Day!

If you’re interested in donating to Cupid’s care, Stray Cat Blues has started a GoFundMe.

RELATED: Cat Shot In Head With Crossbow Is Home & Healing While Abuser Faces Felony Charge

Feature Image: Stray Cat Blues/Facebook