Yesterday a cat arrived here. I was told she was a Bengal (she’s not) I was told she was “wild” (she’s not). I was told she needed to be spayed (she didn’t) She is a very sweet mackeral tabby about five years old whose owner decided to help her out with fleas and dumped a BIG can of Hartz Flea Powder on her (very bad product). Her back looks like someone laid some hot wax on her and took a strip of fur off her in a big stripe! She is covered with scabs from head to toe. I took her the vet immediately and they tested her, gave her a cortisone shot, an antibiotic shot and went to spay her but found a spay scar. She is home, she has had a soothing bath because she is covered in fleas. I gave her three baths with DAWN and flea combed all the stunned fleas off of her to give her some peace. I saw enough fleas to cover Rhode Island! We have given her a Drontal and can’t flea treat her skin yet safely because even with the baths, she still has all that toxic chit on her. Too many chemicals for one small kitty. I am calling her Chandler. I almost cried during the bath. She was so painful from all the sores, it must have felt so good to be gently scrubbed and massaged as we worked to get all the toxins and fleas off of her. She was leaning into my hands and licking my fingers as I was bathing her! So much for being “wild.” Most cats fight the bath, she didn’t want hers to stop!

Here she is, she found a good spot in the bedroom to hide:

When I walked into the office this morning to pick her up, a couple sitting on the couch surrounded by cat carriers nudged one another. I heard the guy say “Isn’t that Mary Anne? I think that’s Mary Anne!” I looked over and saw a couple who adopted three kittens from us over three years ago: London, Paris and Glacie. They had brought in the two calicos to get their shots and I was able to slip into the room and say hello to the two beauties rescued so long ago. Of course their names had been changed, but they looked so beautiful and petting them, I knew that what we do here matters-

So this morning, seeing these beauties and remembering how bad they were when they were first rescued- it made me smile and know our work is good, it is out there walking around and making people happy. Here is London, Paris and Glacie after they were healthy and adopted out. The cat on top of the condo is a stuffed animal!