My lovely wanderer

Frca was such a cutie when she was a kitten, everybody liked her but no one wanted to adopt her. She appeared in front of my garage one day, tiny, talkative, lively and beautiful. Although she was safe inside, with her best friends Negro and Tigi, she couldn’t stay in one place but instead she used to wander around the neighborhood.

Life on the street was always dangerous, especially for a trustful kitty. A couple of months later, Frca went out and came back with a terrible eye injury. Her eye and lacerated eyelids were bleeding heavily and she was in pain, as those kind of injuries are extremely painful. She couldn’t even close that eye, it remained wide open so I rushed her to the vet immediately. Obviously, somebody tried to pull her eye out. Three surgeries were performed until she regained normal vision, even though that eye remained slightly bigger than the other one and the scar can still be seen.

When she was about a year old, she went missing for six weeks and worried me sick. She was nowhere to be found, nevertheless I didn’t give up hope and kept looking for her. Eventually, Frca appeared while I was trying to trap another injured kitten, I guess she recognized me from a far away. Skinny and dirty, she ran towards me yowling loudly and got into my bike basket. I took her into my apartment and she stayed there until we all moved to the shelter. No more roaming!

Moving to the shelter was a blessing for Frca, she seems content and loves this place as if she were born here. She has enough space to do what she needs to do and can enjoy solitude whenever she wants. Whereas she tolerates other cats, she is quite independent and likes to be on her own, she is a loner by nature. And she is safe, finally. Her trust in people will never be betrayed again.

He was the one

A few years ago I was informed that there was an uncatchable kitten with injured back legs not far from my home. I was horrified when I saw him for the first time. He was shivering under a car, tiny and scared, with his hind legs cut off just below the knees. I tried to catch him but he was shy, distrustful, and totally unapproachable. Despite his injuries, he was as fast as lightning. Deeply moved by his misfortune, I knew he’d change my life forever.

For about two weeks I had been trying to catch him, without success. Eventually, he somehow fell into the basement and got caught in a humane trap I had left there. As soon as I picked him up he went limp and I could see his horrible injuries were old. His hind legs were severed below the knee joints, and the vet discovered he also had a prolapsed rectum. It’s quite unbelievable how he managed to survive all alone on the street in that condition - it can be explained only by his enormous desire to live. He was a genuine fighter.

When I found him, Milance was about three months old. His first surgery was for the rectal prolapse repair. A month later, the skin was sutured over the end of the bone of each leg, forming stumps. Being a kitten, Milance was growing fairly quickly and the bone of his left leg kept protruding through the skin every now and then. He underwent several surgeries but that problem just couldn’t be solved permanently.

Milance had lived with me for a year and a half, but I don’t know for sure if he was aware of his disability. He was a cheerful, joyous, playful kitty, with vivid curious eyes, who fully participated in the usual cat activities. My apartment was completely adapted for a cat with special needs. He had his easy-chair on the terrace, his scratching post, plus he managed to climb onto the bed… he had many friends. He got along very well with the other cats, they were playing and sleeping together, always snuggling and cuddling. Sometimes, while he watched them running around, I thought I saw a shadow of sadness crossing his beautiful eyes but it lasted only for a flash – or maybe it was just my imagination

If none of these terrible things had happened to him, Milance would have grown into a huge, magnificent tomcat. That was the most serious problem. He was getting bigger and heavier every day and his stumps couldn’t bear his weight, so the wounds started to open up. One day I noticed that his left stump was swollen, but he wouldn't allow me to touch it. The next night, his loud purring woke me up – he was cuddling with me until morning as if he was saying goodbye. I knew I had held him for the last time.

I took him to the vet and it turned out that his thigh bone was broken longitudinally and he was diagnosed with sepsis. Nothing could have been done except to put him down. I remember just standing there looking at him with tears running down my face as the sorrow and overwhelming grief filled the room. His life had come to an end entirely too soon and way too abruptly, but I was sure he went to a better place and would be looking over me for many years to come.

Milance didn’t live long enough to see my shelter but I feel his presence everywhere. I miss him terribly but I am grateful to have had him be a part of my life. During his short time on this Earth he touched the hearts of so many and his story became a tale of courage, hope and faith. He will never be forgotten.

If I close my eyes, I can still see him…

Felix kitties need your help

The weather is changeable this winter and it affects all of my kitties, especially the oldest and the youngest. Almost all new kitties that arrived this year and are not fully adapted to the life in the shelter are already under treatment, they have a fever and eye discharge and most of them are sneezing.

It’s rather warm now, at least for this time of the year, but we had bad snow a couple of weeks ago, as you may see on the photos. I fear for my chronically ill kitties, they’re always in crisis during the winter. Although a contagious respiratory infection is not a serious health threat for most cats, for the elderly or those who have a chronic health problem it can result in serious complications.

My kitties are in continuous need of your support. Vet bills are mounting, and lots of medicines have to be bought for treatment at home. Right now, six of my cats are being given injections and the vet is coming every day. It’s extremely hard to defray costs of maintaining or restoring health of dozens of senior cats, 15 chronic patients and five delicate kittens under the age of six months. Again, I’m forced to ask for your help as we depend on your generosity.

My kitties and I thank you in advance from the bottom of our hearts!

Marsred's blue eyes sparkle again

My blue-eyed beauty, Marsred, was found in front of some pharmacy a couple of years ago. She was thin, pregnant and desperately hungry, approaching everybody she saw in the hope of getting some food. I picked her up and took her with me. She found a refuge in my garage.

Marsred was lovable and trustful from the beginning, she simply loved people. She must’ve been shooed away a billion times while she lived on the street but somehow she continued to believe that every person she met was well intentioned. That’s exactly why she was deemed perfectly adoptable. Last year, after we all moved to the shelter, I gave her up for adoption. It was a regrettable decision. A big mistake.

Everything sounded nice but I had my doubts. Ten days later I found out that my fear was justified. A person who took Marsred and three other cats of mine didn’t plan to keep them as pets but to sell them! Marsred was supposed to be sold as a Turkish Van cat.

It took all the strength and persistence I had to get them back, one by one. Marsred was the third one to arrive. When I saw her, I could’ve cried of anger and helplessness. She was horribly thin and terrified of everything, completely distrustful and endlessly unhappy. When I touched her, she literally froze up. She turned into someone I didn’t recognize and I can only imagine what she’s been through.

Her long and slow recovery began as soon as she arrived back home. She put on a lot of weight since and is learning to trust people again. Her confidence was destroyed and now she is building it back. Marsred might never be as trustful as she used to be, but she starts resembling her old self. I haven’t heard her purr for months, but I think she licked my fingers the last time I touched her…

Another great loss

It’s with deepest regret and profound sadness that I have to inform you of the passing of my dearly beloved Laza. Just a few weeks after his 16th birthday, he died peacefully by my side this morning, after blessing me with happiness for so many wonderful years.

His sister Ruza died in October and after that he began to deteriorate rapidly. They were closely bound to each other and I guess he couldn’t cope with life without her. He was hardly eating anything recently, as if he decided it was time for him to leave.

But still it hurts. We’ve not only shared so many moments together – playful, tender, difficult and joyous – he loved me deeply and when the times were hard he was always here to comfort me. The sorrow of losing him I have to face alone.

I’ll miss him always and love him forever.

May he rest in peace.