'She's my fur baby'

CRESTVIEW — A kitten allegedly beaten with a golf club and left for dead is rapidly recovering in the home of Karen McCauley, who rescued her early last month. 

“We were surprised she had stripes because she was so bony,” said McCauley, who found the mangled kitten in the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club parking lot with a huge gash on her shoulder as she was heading to her car after a day’s work at Two Trees Restaurant.

“She’s growing like crazy and we never thought the hair would grow back and now it’s black and shiny. Even the vets weren’t sure, and it came in, but not striped like the rest of her.”

The cat, affectionately dubbed “Ping” after a brand of golf clubs, is fast becoming one of McCauley’s favorite pets. A self-proclaimed animal lover, McCauley has another cat and two dogs — and the one she calls “crazy” is Ping’s new best friend.

“She’s a regular little kitten and she’s friends with the crazy dog and the mellow dog,” McCauley said. 

When the Crestview resident found Ping, the cat was feral, biting her and, eventually, doing the same to the vet tech who thought she wouldn’t survive. 

“She bit the crap out of me," McCauley said. "I had to wrap her really tight in a towel and just rub the top of her head."

“Now [Ping's] as friendly as can be,” she said. “She never cried in pain and they gave me some pain medicine for her and I just gave her some once so she could fall asleep.”

McCauley has yet to spay Ping, who suffered broken ribs and needs surgery for a visible hernia — which she plans on getting for her in six months.

“She’s my fur baby, she purrs all the time and cuddles up,” McCauley said affectionately.

If you would like to help pay for Ping’s medical expenses, donate on McCauley’s GoFundMe page, https://www.gofundme.com/brutbrutally-abused-and-left-for-dead.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'She's my fur baby'