Who has a special needs baby?

I have a very special needs cat. She has my heart wrapped around her little paw.

Twitch is only 3 years old & has been through so much in her short life. She is deaf & had her teeth removed some months ago. She is slowly loosing her eyesight(she requires nightlights to see in the dark). She relates best to people, not well to other dogs & OK to cats. She prefers me over the rest of my family.

Does that make her any worse of a friend? No. I think it has made her a better friend. Would I trade her for another cat? NEVER! I wouldn't give her up even if someone offered me a million dollars for her.

What made me want to post this? She came over to me, meowed, & jumped into my lap to get attention. She wants her gums massaged. My silly kitty. She loves people as much as Lily. She does the same things Lily does. Really, she isn't any different that Lily in terms of cat behavior.

Does anyone else have a special needs kitty? Is that cat any different from other cats in terms of how much he/she loves you?

My Avalon was my special cat. I understood her without words and she understood me in spite of them. The only thing she ever wanted was to be with me.

I love you Babi... Keep warm over the rainbow

I almost had such a kitty. She was a stray who had been fostered for several years by a volunteer from our shelter, but she had become so ill that she couldn't stay in that home anymore.

Her name was Isis, and she was a once-beautiful all-white medium-haired cat, at least 20 years old. She was incontinent and unable to clean herself... a tragic, matted mess when the foster finally brought her back to the shelter late one afternoon.

Another volunteer and I sat with Isis, taking turns holding her while we waited for someone who was coming in to give her some subcutaneous fluids. The poor kitty was virtually blind -- her eyes were so dilated we couldn't see what color they were, and her eyelids were mostly matted together with brown gunk. She was all bones, and so terribly weak. I held her like a baby, and she weighed nothing at all.

But even in this state of misery, Isis still wanted affection. She turned her face toward me and rubbed her cheek against my chest... held my hand with one forepaw... she was still trying to be a kittycat, bless her heart.

We took turns holding her late into the night, and we really were afraid she might pass away right there as we held her, but she didn't. She took the subcutaneous fluids very well and perked up a bit right away. We carefully applied warm compresses to try to dissolve the gunk on her eyes, and we cut out as many mats as we could without causing her pain.

The next day, the pro bono vet took Isis in and started working on her. The foster had waited much too long to bring her back in, but the vet was able to fully rehydrate her, give her intravenous nutrition, clear her eyes, and even bathe her. Isis lived another month, clean and feeling better... and well-loved by the vet's staff and those of us from the shelter who went to visit.

If Isis had gotten well enough to come home, I would have taken her in a heartbeat. I've never seen anything so beautiful as the spirit in that poor, brokendown old kitty, suffering so much and yet so full of love. The few hours I spent with Isis are a treasure to me, and I feel honored to have met her.

I haven't been on this site in such a long time and re-registered. Your story touched me as I have a special needs kitty too. He has a bad front left leg - for anyone who remembers this from about 6 months ago, his name is Scooter. He was a rescue and was found close to death. I have experienced that special needs, or simply just rescues, like to express how grateful they are for love. Good luck.

Carol, that was such a wonderful thing to do! It was wonderful for Isis to be able to spend one more wonderful month well loved.

Stacey, can you tell me more about Scooter? I would love to hear his story.

Acalon, Avalon is looking down on you from over the rainbow. She knows you love her & miss her.

I have had two special needs kitties.

One was Sphinx (who passed over last year due to cancer at a ripe age of 18 years). We had him 2 years before his death and had a few health problems - including cancer, heart murmur, allergies, and arthritis. He was somewhat hard of hearing but not too bad.

Our other kitty is Kuce - she has Feline Asthma and a trick knee.

I wouldn't trade them for anything.

My dear Fred, recently gone to the Bridge, had a head injury years ago and was a little goofy for the rest of his life. Sometimes he would be walking along, and would jump 3 feet straight up, like someone activated a spring. He would get turned around and walk in to things, so we always had to watch to make sure he did not hurt himself. He would sit and stare like he was not really sure what he was looking at. He would get disoriented, and cry until I would pick him up, then he would hug me, and we would sit like that until he calmed down or went to sleep. He would smile once he knew he was in my arms. He got tremors, and toward the end of his 18 years, seizures. He was my soul mate kitty, and I miss him terribly.

Rocky is my special needs kitty. He has chronic herpes, eye ulcer, snotty nose and driipy eyes. But he is the lovey, funny kitty. He has been to the vet at least 10 times in almost 2 years. He had an asthma attack over the summer and had to be hospitalized over night. Basically what we have decided with our vet is to bring him in when he has coughing and give him a steriod shot, which clears up his inflammation. He also has a tendency to sneeze and shoot boogers- esp when we have guests!! He is much better now then before...

My Portia was a special needs kitty when she was little because she was an orphan at 3 days old!!! So I nursed her and even when she wasn't pooping, had to give her enemas.

But now she is nearly 12 weeks old and as perfect as can be!! No more poopy problems and she's a healthy little kit!!

It was touch and go for a while there but I truly believe that love was what got her through!!

Good on you guys who look after all those special needs kitties out there! They all need our love and attention!

I guess Spike qualifies as a special needs kitty: he's brain-damaged. When we adopted him, we had absolutely no idea that there was anything wrong; after a little while, one of our friends (who volunteers at the Humane Society we adopted him from) told us he had been returned to the shelter four times for being too rambunctious. (Ummm, hello, he was a four-month-old kitten? At that age, if he hadn't been rambunctious I would have been worried!) His case history is a little vague, so we don't know if the brain-damage was the result of an accident or injury, or if he'd been born that way, or what. Basically, Spike has a lot of minor behavioural problems, including a complete and utter inability to retain information (stoves are hot, water is wet, Mom was in the living room, I'm not allowed on the kitchen counter). Some people might suspect we haven't trained him properly, or that we let him get away with too much, but the reality is that with Spike, you pick your battles carefully. Does it matter if he gets up on the counter? No, not really. Does it matter if he leaps up on a hot stove? Absolutely. We try to be consistent with him, and we acknowledge his limitations. In a lot of ways, Spike will be a kitten forever, and that's both endearing and frustrating. We've had him for over two years now, and in all honesty, it doesn't really feel like we have a "special needs cat." We just have a cat. (Well, two cats, but Oz isn't special needs by any definition!)

I have two special needs cats. My beloved Lucy given to me 9 years ago by a friend who did cat rescue. She needed somewhere safe for this little cat and phoned me. I didn't really want to take on another cat at the time, but when she told me Lucy was crippled because of cruelty - well - how could I refuse! Lucy was only meant to stay with me one night until a permanent home could be found for her. She limped out of the cat basket, rolled over for me to rub her tummy and it was at first sight. She is also very slightly brain-damaged, although you wouldn't know unless you're told. She is slightly slower on one side than the other. That love has lasted 9 years and no matter what happens in the next couple of days, that love will last forever. As I write this Lucy is very ill and is hospitalised at the vets. She's an old cat now and I just can't imagine life without her, although I know that there'll be another special needs cat to help fill the huge gap that one day, whether it's this week, next year or the year after she's going to leave.

My other special needs cat is my white cat Pickles. He was born deaf but it doesn't bother him. He's not a rescue cat and was born into our family (Mum got out before I had the chance to get her spayed - she was spayed as soon as the kittens were weaned. All our cats are spayed/neutered). Ironically, my son who is also deaf (has to wear a hearing aid), chose Pickles as his kitten before we knew Pickles was also deaf so they're two of a kind.

Originally Posted by Python

I have two special needs cats. My beloved Lucy given to me 9 years ago by a friend who did cat rescue. She needed somewhere safe for this little cat and phoned me. I didn't really want to take on another cat at the time, but when she told me Lucy was crippled because of cruelty - well - how could I refuse! Lucy was only meant to stay with me one night until a permanent home could be found for her. She limped out of the cat basket, rolled over for me to rub her tummy and it was

at first sight. She is also very slightly brain-damaged, although you wouldn't know unless you're told. She is slightly slower on one side than the other. That love has lasted 9 years and no matter what happens in the next couple of days, that love will last forever. As I write this Lucy is very ill and is hospitalised at the vets. She's an old cat now and I just can't imagine life without her, although I know that there'll be another special needs cat to help fill the huge gap that one day, whether it's this week, next year or the year after she's going to leave.

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What a lovely story...I'll keep Lucy in my thoughts and prayers!

Python, I do hope Lucy gets better. If you get the chance, I have a thread in Fur Pictures Only called the white cat thread. iw ould love to see a picture of Pickles. Aren't deaf cats wonderful?

Definitely beautiful cats - and I've got three of them. Strangely, though their Mum is jet black

I'll get some pics of my cats in the forum soon

One of my guys has cerebellar hypoplasia. He's the most amazing little guy.

Some people have Precious and Snowball, we have Bubba, a half-blind orange and white Tabby who acts like a grumpy old man.

We had a cat give birth to a litter of kittens about four years ago and my stepdad didn't realize Bubba was under his recliner when he rocked back rocking on the poor babies head. Afterwards Mamma Kitty rejected him and we ended up feeding him with an eyedropper until he was old enough to start eating on his own.

My mom was sure no one could take care of him like we could and was afraid he'd end up in a local shelter where they would put him to sleep because he's slow and not a very personable cat. If he likes you he's mean to you (I have the scars to prove it) and if he doesn't like you he hides from you.

He sleeps with me every night and we love him to death. I couldn't imagine life without my baby.

I had Echo who passed away a year ago today, at 8 month's old. Echo came in as a foster kitten with a severe heart murmur, it was so bad I decided not to adopt him out after we found out he would live a short life.

greycat2, does Princess Kuce have a tail? She looks so much like Echo's brother Jack that I had to do a double take.

You people who have these special needs babies deserve a round of applause

Bless your hearts

I agree.

Originally Posted by rosiemac

You people who have these special needs babies deserve a round of applause

Bless your hearts

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