Ok, so my mother and I used to volunteer every weekend at the Mt. Vernon Animal Shelter with a volunteer group headed by my mother. Since then, the group (Pet Adoption League) has some volunteers at the shelter but mostly now we operate outside the shelter providing foster homes for pets (to get them out of the shelter) and developing fundraising events for the group.
Anyway, that is why I have 6 cats...I'll begin with the non-Disney kitties...
Timmy (age 19) who we adopted out, but was dumped on us by his owner who "had to get surgery and would pick him up in 2 weeks"
Massimo (age 7) who we found as a kitten hit by a car and he was too feral to be adopted out
Cookie (age 4) who for some reason no one wanted
And now the Disney cats...
Simba (age 9) who was very sick as a kitten, which caused his eye to close up and never be used. Alas, no one wanted a one-eyed cat. His name was for the Lion King, obviously.
Kitty (age 4) who also has one eye due to Horner's syndrome, meaning the eye is there just way back in her head. Again, no one wanted her due to this. And Kitty comes from Monsters Inc. because that's what the little girl calls Sully.
And last, Thumper (age 7 months), who I named Thumper because when he was a kitten (small enough to put in the palms of my hands) he hopped around (sorta) rather than walked.
So, back in March my cat, Whiskers, passed away quite suddenly at age 14. We are almost positive a tumor grew behind her eye and traveled to her throat, causing her to stop eating. She was very dear to me as I had her since I was a child and was really a companion cat, with me every moment I was home.
So, when we started fostering Thumper I felt for him how I felt for Whiskers and we decided to keep him, which for a change was nice because we got to decide on a cat rather than keep the cat because no one else wanted it.
Shortly afterward we realized he slept A LOT for a kitten. So, we took him to the vet to get checked on, who then called a specialist when they heard a murmur in his heart. We were quite ready to get surgery for him, esp. since he is so young.
However, the specialist discovered that surgery was not possible because he has not 1, but 2 rare heart conditions that only .05% of kittens have. Therefore, he is inoperable. I'm not sure of the technical terms, but a chamber of his heart is divided in 2, causing un-oxygenated blood to flow into his lungs. The bad news was we aren't sure how long he can live with this condition, but the good news is his heart is compensating for its deficiencies!
And as you can see, it hasn't hindered his kitten behavior because he is still quite mischievous. We are so happy to have him in our life and we are so fortunate he ended up with us and not someone who might have not noticed his lethargy or someone who might give him away due to his condition.
Ok, next up...I need suggestions on some rides Joe and I have never been on...
Yay for getting Mickey Mail! That's always a wonderful surprise!
) - at least they're the only ones available to the public.
