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I told my husband that Pearl would be our last rescue from Eastern Europe. She came to us just before Christmas last year and I kept my word for all of eight months. Then I spotted a nearly blind kitten at a wonderful rescue in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The rescuers rent a property where they house up to 55 cats at any one time. Heaven only knows how they fund the place, but the cats receive all the veterinary care they need and for some of the worst cases, that can be quite considerable.
Vicky was one of the lucky ones. Found as a tiny kitten, with herpes and blind in both eyes, she was taken to the Cat House by a kind lady. She was too small for surgery in the beginning, but by the time she was fit enough to have her eyes removed, they found that one could actually be saved. She has hardly any vision left, but it’s better than nothing.
She arrived on 25th September at the age of five months, weighing in at just 1.35kg. We had never seen such a tiny little cat. In the seven weeks that followed, she has put on a whopping 1.1kg and although she will always be small, she is now looking decidedly chunky.
She has fitted in so well with our other nine cats too and Buddy in particular (also from Plovdiv) is absolutely besotted with his new little friend. They spend hours together every day, washing one another, or simply tearing round the house. She has adopted some of his habits as well, so now I have two cats guarding me while I vacuum the house and they will both attack the nozzle given half a chance. She also perched on top of the PC while I worked on some images this afternoon, so double the chance of someone accidentally pressing the OFF button!
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She looks very fit given her origin and her eye-problem! Thank you for encouraging us to think about adopting cats with special needs!
We now have eight cats from Eastern Europe. Most had very bad starts in life, but you wouldn’t know it to see them now. Two vets have confirmed that Vicky is almost completely blind and yet she is currently tearing round the house at full pelt as I type. All they need is to be given a chance 🙂
And it is good that you give them chances and write about it, so others might feel encouraged, too!
I really what you do to help out our feline friends x
It’s nothing to fall in love with them and have a lovely, happy house full of cats 🙂
You are doing a fine and important job!
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Thank you 🙂
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What a beautiful cat. Also, how did you end up with so many cats? I know, stupid question but still. I’m sure an interesting story to tell.
Oh… where do I start? As a child I was brought up to believe cats should be kept singly. My first efforts to integrate one of the farm cats with our own cat at home ended in disaster. (It wasn’t a problem. I cared for him at the stables until I got my own home and he had a long and happy life there). He got on with a kitten I took pity on. Then a third cat blended in well. Before long I had 12 cats at home. After we moved the numbers increased to 18, but I will admit the house was rather… “full”. We’ve averaged around 10 to 12 for many years 🙂
I thinks you might be related somehow to one of my carers. She only has 3 but is always suggesting to get on Gum-Tree & drive around and collect all the kittens.
Now that sounds like a plan! 🙂
So cute and looks nice and plump
I prefer her plump 🙂
Yes
Clearly Vicky isn’t held back by her disability. I wish more potential owners knew the benefits of taking on a disabled pet. Our boy is missing a front leg & he manages brilliantly. If I’d refused to take him on that basis alone I’d be missing out on so much love & affection. The way I see it is that humans & animals help each other & it doesn’t get any better than that!
I couldn’t agree more! 🙂
She is a beautiful cat. We also plan in the future to adopt a cat from Eastern Europe or Spain. Now we rescued 2 but simply because the owners couldn’t take care of them anymore. It’s great what you did, I wish more people would do it, lately I posted in my blog a kitty who lost an eye, unfortunately I can’t adopt him as he lives in the States. Wish you and your little one lots of happy years together, take care.
If you need a recommendation for a rescuer in Eastern Europe, do get in touch. (You can leave a comment on my own blog if you wish). Most are wonderful and trustworthy, but some unfortunately, are not. I also have a contact who takes cats from a kill shelter in Spain. I wish you luck and a lot of happiness 🙂
Vicky,The angels have descended??D
What a lovely thing to say… 🙂
I adopted a one-eyed cat although she has fairly good vision in the other eye. I took her for fear that no one else would and it was not a mistake. She brought so much energy to the other cats and the house in general. She is also the most friendly and easiest to handle. Yes, I too wish people would consider handicapped cats when adopting. There is no extra trouble with her. No extra meds and no special handling. Just more fun.
From what I’ve seen with the rescuers, blind cats are often adopted fairly quickly. Sometimes the real problem is with older or even black cats. Thank you for adopting a partially sighted cat though and I’m glad she brings you so much joy 🙂
I adopted a black cat too and a mama cat. I’m a soft touch.
??? Beautiful! I’m so happy when I see that cats are being rescued.
She is just beautiful. Who among us has no flaws? Bless you for all your rescues. (You have been blessed now I think about it)
Oh yes. We are definitely the lucky ones 🙂
She is very beautiful. Bless you for all your rescues. I have rescued a 10 years old cat 7 years ago who was mistreated and now we have 2 cats whom owners didn’t want or couldn’t keep them anymore. Lately I posted in my blog a kitty who lost an eye, I hope he will find soon a lovely owner as he is too far for me to adopt him. I wish you and your little one many happy years and have a lovely holiday season.
Thank you very much 🙂
a happy ending. she is a beautiful baby girl. love this story. <3
sweet cat, reminded me when I used to have a cat like that.
She is such a beautiful cat, love your story.
Awww, thank you for sharing your kitty’s story. 🙂 She’s such a little cutie.
I think she knows that 😉
Thank you for taking care of these abandoned lovely felines… we do the same, and each time that one of them dies because of aging… I tell my husband I’m not willing to take other. But it last until the next occasion. We have found on Mauritius many cats and we cared for them during our stay. We wished to give to Penelope and her 3 babies a new home in Switzerland, but the custom procedures and transportation by airplane were awfully complicated and very expensive. We had to give up as well because of the quarantine they should have done in Italy, in Milan, without no guarantee for kittens… Have a lovely day :-)claudine
I’m sorry you had to give up because of the complicated procedures. At the moment it takes three months to get an Egyptian cat over here, but we can have one from Eastern Europe in a little over three weeks. (If there are no transport issues). People assume it is difficult and expensive and yet the rescuers do all the paperwork and we just pay for their travel – which is normally around £150. For that, the cat is vaccinated, wormed, tested for FIV/FeLV and neutered if it is old enough. I hope Penelope and her babies are doing well. If there are visitors, then I imagine they will continue to be cared for – a bit like the cats in Greece 🙂