UPDATE!! mostly blind kitty, Louisianna

[Medusa]

the vet removed the wrong eye--my good one! I have only one eye
now, my bad one, to see with.

What the hell is up w/that vet?!?! Poor baby, I sure hope you're able to find a home for Angel. I'm maxed out at 7; I wish I could help. Good luck and please keep us posted.

[mumpkees]

Many of you will read this and go 'oh poor kitty - I hope YOU can find her a home'. People post kitties to this site and other sites so that we ALL can help find them a home. Each of us knows dozens of good friends or colleagues, each of us has a vet office or a church bulletin board. Each of us probably has an address book filled with names of friends.

This little girl, Angel, has had a REALLY bad time in her young life. She sits in a shelter environment now in a cage until one day when all the cages are full, they will start killing the cats who have been there the longest or aren't really the 'cream of the crop' as far as adoptions go. Or if they don't kill the cats, Angel will be one who will spend her remaining days sitting in a cage.

Maybe you truly are maxed out at three cats or six cats or ten cats, but you have the power to help other cats by spending some time posting their need for a home on your bulletin board at work, at the vets, at church. You can send Angel's need for a home to friends and family. In turn, ask each of them to do the same. Somewhere out there is Angel's family. We just need to help her get the exposure she needs.

Or maybe you think that Angel really might be a wonderful companion to you and your furred family, but the whole thing about a special needs cat worries you - will she need special adaptations to my home, will she need a lot of extra care, will the expense of keeping her be high and prohibitive? These are all valid concerns, but as a LONG time special needs mom, let me tell you that the care for Angel will require only MINOR modifications to your home life. She won't require any more vetting than you would provide for a normal cat. Angel is healthy, just sight impaired. Her blindness is permanent and there isn't any surgery, meds or other treatments that will bring it back - right now she just needs a forever home and love. 99% of us keep our cats indoors - this really is the only thing that is critical for Angel's safety unless you have a secure area in your yard that she can be outside supervised.

Angel is healthy - she has a pronounced limp from her broken leg not being set but she doesn't let that stop her. She is almost blind, but again she gets around just fine. We have a house full of blind cats running thru a house where the furniture is moved all the time. With the proper introductions that you would do with any new family member, Angel will do just fine. She will find her food, water, litter box and the bed of the family member she chooses as hers.

Please consider offering a home to this special little girl who has been thru so much and only wants a family who will love her. If you have questions about caring for a blind cat, I'll be happy to answer them or assist you. If transportation is a concern, there are many people who will help get Angel to you.

/mari

[Medusa]

I can only speak for myself but it isn't the fact that Angel is a special needs cat that I can't take her. All of my rescues were/are special needs cats. Given my age, my finances and my current state of health, I couldn't in good conscience take in one more animal. There are times when certain stories tug at my heart and I try to talk myself into taking in "just one more". However, it wouldn't be fair to the animal because if something would happen to me financially or medically, I have to rely on friends and my very small family, i.e. my son, to take on 7 special needs cats. I will, as I always do, spread the word about Angel in the hope that someone will be able to give her a permanent home. Good luck.

[mumpkees]

Mary:

The YOU was not directed to you personally - it was used as a 'general pronoun'. Too often when something needs done we think I am so busy someone else will surely take care of this. As a result nothing gets done. We all have our limitations and a responsible care giver realizes this and doesn't jeopardize the care of the cats they are responsible for.

I apologize to you if you felt that this was directed to you personally. I probably should not have replied to this email last night after having spent the day helping a 'concerned' citizen rescue three kittens from a busy roadway. She didn't have a trap - I found a trap. She couldn't go get the trap - I went to get the trap. She couldn't sit with the trap - I arranged for someone to stay with trap. The kittens were caught. They needed a place to spend the night until we could get them to a vet. She has a huge house and only one cat but the kittens couldn't stay in one of her five bathrooms because it would upset her only cat, so I spent several hours trying to find someone to hold them overnight. I couldn't do it because both of my bathtubs had a cage of kittens waiting to go to the vet this morning on my way to work. But as I was picking up the kittens to take them to someone, she's on her cell phone telling her friend - oh "I" just did the neatest thing - I saved three little kittens from the road.....

This is a daily occurrence for those of us doing rescue. I guess I was just a little frustrated - people want to help these cats and dogs as long as it doesn't inconvenience them. Others want to help, but can't take another cat - this post was just to let them know there are ways 'you' can help.

Sorry. If my original post is inappropriate, moderators, please pull it. /mari

[Medusa]

Mari, I didn't take offense at all. I knew that it wasn't directed at me. I was merely speaking on my own behalf. No harm, no foul.

[critters]

Update:
http://handicappedpet.net/help/viewt...?p=50625#50625