SEQUIM — A couple caring for a cat named China have come to believe that cats have nine lives.
Diana and Eldon Lusby of Sequim are serving as China’s foster parents after the cat fell more than 60 feet onto rocks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca — after the feline spent 11 nights in a tree at Salt Creek Recreation Area County Park in August.
“She is lucky to be alive,” Diana Lusby said.
“She is about two years old and has already used at least five of her nine lives. She is a miracle cat.”
The cat broke a hip, suffered mouth injuries and shattered its front left paw in the fall.
China will undergo hip surgery and have her paw fused later this month.
The extent of the cat’s mouth injuries will be determined during surgery.
“They say after the surgery she will be able to have a normal life, but will have to be a housecat and have caring owners,” Diana Lusby said.
The Lusbys are hoping the community will donate to Peninsula Friends of Animals to help pay for China’s medical bills, which are estimated to cost at least $2,000.
Salt Creek camp-out
China was originally owned by a La Conner family who took the cat camping at Salt Creek Recreation Area near Joyce.
When the family opened the car door, China ran from the car to a Douglas fir and climbed the tree.
China’s owners and other campers in the area tried to coax the cat down and Eldon Lusby, a seasonal maintenance worker at the county park, placed food and a long piece of lumber at the base of the tree in the hope that the cat would walk down the board.
The La Conner family returned home without their cat four days into her perch in the tree.
Now China is a Peninsula Friends of Animals cat because the family cannot afford the mounting medical bills and the care China will need on a permanent basis, Diana Lusby said.
People wanting to help defray surgery costs of China, the cat that spent 11 days in a tree and then fell 60 feet into rocks on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, can send donations to Peninsula Friends of Animals, P.O. Box 404, Sequim, WA 98382.
Check should be made payable to Peninsula Friends of Animals, and in the memo portion of the check put “For China.”
