It has been a little over a year since Blue Moon came to us at NEADY Cats – a little, scrawny spitfire with strange looking eyes that come along – well- once in a Blue Moon.
She was found as a stray on the island of Granada (yup-she is well-traveled) by a veterinary student, had her initial vet work done there, and then was brought the United States for further treatment. However, Blue Moon’s problems were more extensive than first realized, and the student couldn’t afford the treatment. Blue was taken in by International Animal Rescue, and then came to NEADY Cats in January of 2015.
Blue Moon immediately made her presence known. She screamed every time she was picked up. No way was she going to live in a room with other cats. She stayed in a large cage, and was let out for short, supervised playtimes with the volunteers. She did make friends with our office cat, Gideon, who is about 3 times her size, and would ‘play’ with him (actually we thought she was going to kill him!).
Soon after she came to us, we brought Blue Moon to Tufts. She had no upper eyelids (agenesis), and her eyelashes were growing inwards (entropion), poking into her eyes and causing pain and ulcers. She also had Peters Anomaly–a membrane-like growth over her eyes- further obstructing her vision. Her left cornea had almost ruptured, so surgery was done to remove her left eye. Cryosurgery was performed on the right eye to remove ingrown eyelashes and prevent further ulceration. To add insult to injury, she returned to NEADY Cats wearing the dreaded Elizabethan collar, which she hated!
As she healed, it was clear that she was much more comfortable. She began to open her right eye more, and to explore the office area on her short excursions out of her cage. She had to have eye drops several times a day, and would need regular follow up at Tufts. Because of her complicated medical issues, need for ongoing care, and her attitude around most other cats, we were fearful that Blue would not be adopted and would have to spend her life in her cage.
In October, 2015, I had just lost my big boy Milo. I had sworn that I wouldn’t add any more cats to my feline family, but, with some trepidation, decided to bring Blue Moon home, along with her big cage. I had NO idea whether Blue would adjust to my home and my other cats. For the first three weeks she spent her nights in her cage, coming out for short, supervised visits during the day.
Blue quickly let me know that she did not intend to spend much more time in that cage. She began to explore the house, and for a cat with only part of an eye, she found and got into EVERYTHING!
She was very fickle, and replaced her friend Gideon with my boy Jack.
She is about half the size of my smallest cat, but has become queen of the household. She sleeps with me at night- under the covers where it is warm, and has become a regular on my lap.
She still screams bloody murder when she is picked up, but tolerates her eye drops and her visits to Tufts. She is in every way a delight and has brought such joy to my household!
Chris Bibby
It takes a lot of people pulling together to make success stories like Blue Moon’s a reality. If our cats are never offered a home, they can live at the shelter for the rest of their lives. They will receive lots of love, and all the care and comfort they need. But we need your help to do this.
