The topsy turvy world of Topsy The Miracle Cat

Life started hard for Topsy The Miracle Cat.

She was only about a month old in the summer of 2011 when she was accidentally run over with a brush hog by an employee at Nalle’s Feed and Grain Elevator. Topsy wasn’t injured. She was all alone with no mother and no litter mates, so the employee took her to the feed store.

Word soon reached Glenda St. John that there was a really cute kitten at the elevator.

"As soon as I saw her, I knew I had to take her home," said Glenda. "She was about a month old and as cute as they come."

Topsy tamed down quickly and got along well with Glenda’s other cat, a big orange 10-year-old tomcat. Life was going along well.

"She’s real independent," said Glenda. "That’s what got her into trouble."

Around the first of February of this year, Topys was playing in the yard when a stray dog scared her and she climbed a utility pole. She got about half way up and didn’t have a way to get down. She was looking for something she could sit on.

A neighbor saw it happen. She came over to the house and told Glenda that Topsy was sitting on the transformer.

"I immediately called the police and Officer Kenneth Stieh arrived in a few minutes," said Glenda. The cherry picker was in the vicinity so it wasn’t long before it arrived, too.

But despite their best efforts, they were too late. Topsy touched a hot wire. She was shocked by 13,000 volts of electricity and fell 42 feet to the ground.

Amazingly, she survived the shock and the fall.

Topsy was limping and disoriented, but she still managed to run under the porch. Officer Stieh could see her sitting there and decided to leave so she would come out.

After everyone left she ventured out.

"She let me catch her," said Glenda. "She couldn’t put her foot down and she had a hole in her hip. I took her in the house. She just laid there real still. She was obviously in shock — no pun intended."

Glenda immediately took her to Dr. Eugene Story’s Veterinary Clinic. Topsy had a deep entry wound on her right hip where the electricity entered. It exited through her feet which caused severe burn damage to her paws. Still, Dr. Story thought Topsy had a chance to recover. She was placed on antibiotics and pain pills. She underwent surgery on her left front paw and her right back paw. Topsy lost her three middle toes on the front paw and one toe on the back paw. She ultimately spent 20 days at the veterinarians.

Glenda stopped by to visit her twice a day, even on the days she went to work as a teacher at the Gallatin High School. She would go when she came home from school and then later in the evening. On her days off, she saw her three times a day.

"They allowed me to come and go as I please," she said. "I felt sorry for her and I wanted to comfort her. She’d purr and want to cuddle."

Topsy has made a good recovery.

"She is learning to use her little stub of a paw and is adapting to her handicap," said Glenda. "Every day she gets a little better. She’s getting her spirit back. She’s a feisty little cat."

Her paw will be tender for a long time and she holds it up when she runs, but is able to put it down when she’s just walking.

Glenda spent over $1,100 on Topsy all together.

"I’ve told a lot of people and I’ve gotten lots of responses," said Glenda. "Some people are amazed that Topsy survived. And then some people are amazed that I’d spend that much money on a cat."

But Glenda said Topsy is worth it to her.

"I want to thank Officer Stieh, Chad Young, Eric Kloepping, and most of all Mary Jane and Dr. Story," said Glenda. "Topsy, I believe, has used up most of her nine lives – she truly is a Miracle Cat!"