LATHROP – A pet enthusiast severely injured after falling 40 feet from a tree while trying to rescue a stranded cat is making strides towards recovery.

Karen Duke – known around Lathrop and throughout the area for her feline advocacy – is still recuperating from multiple surgeries at Sacramento’s UC Davis Medical Center after the fall left her with cracked vertebrae, a cracked pelvis, a punctured lung and a ruptured spleen.

According to friend Melanie Parker, the 70-year-old Duke just recently stood on her own for about 10 minutes and is no longer breathing with the aid of a respirator.

“She laughed yesterday which is a good sign,” Parker said. “I talked to her husband and he said that they’d probably keep her there for another three weeks. Things are moving along slowly, but they’re moving in the right direction.”

Nearly two weeks ago, Duke – the president of Happy Pet Owners – fell more than three stories when a dead branch broke off during the rescue attempt. Other branches helped break her fall, and bystanders that witnessed the accident immediately called for emergency help.

She was flown to Sacramento by helicopter in critical condition.

Responders told Parker that Duke was lucky that she didn’t hit her head during the harrowing ordeal – something that would have surely killed her.

While Duke works slowly to recover from the serious injuries sustained, Parker and other volunteers are trying to handle the heavy burden of keeping up with her widespread network of cat feeding stations scattered throughout the community.

So far out of 40 known sites where the feline-lover distributes food to feral cats, Parker has only been able to find 28 of them. She’s hoping that others in the community that might know where some are tucked away will let her know so that she can continue Duke’s routine.

“Right now that’s all that she’s worried about – when she should be worried about getting better she wants to make sure that her cats aren’t going hungry,” Parker said. “I’m just hoping that there are people out there that might know where these colonies are because right now 12 of them are going hungry.”

And it isn’t like exactly like feeding a handful of extra cats that show up on your doorstep.

Parker says that she’s been digging into her own pocket to cover the dry cat food needed to make the daily rounds and has tried unsuccessfully to get donations. It’s not something that she minds doing, but help from the community or those in the pet community would be appreciated.

“Karen has been doing her cat thing for a long time here so she’s a fixture – I’ve gotten a lot of calls from people wanting to know how she’s doing,” Parker said. “Anybody that knows where the colonies are located or might be willing to donate dry cat food would really be of help. We’re really in dire need.

“She’s such an amazing, special person and I want to make sure that her passions – the cats – are taken care of.”

Those interested in making a donation can contact Parker at (209) 239-8536.