We welcomed a domestic cat named Josie to our sanctuary in August of 2022. She was a year and a half old at the time. Josie is a very sweet, special needs girl, but so resilient and confident. We’re hoping she and another domestic cat we have here named Edgar might hit it off.
Even though she’s blind, Josie loves every dog, cat and human she meets! She has cataracts and old facial fractures due to trauma of some sort. She’s been seen by an ophthalmologist but, unfortunately, surgery is not an option for her cataracts.
“This post breaks our heart… I have gone back and forth with whether to post it.
The picture on the left is what she looked like last November when she originally came to us…
The picture on the right is what she looks like today when she came back to us.
The details are very few but what we know is she was found as a stray last week. Animal control reached out when they found the microchip which was still registered to us. We gave the officer the adopter info and when they tried to make contact the person said they didn’t own a cat. We always take our animals back no matter what so we went to pick her up today and this is what we saw.
She has severe facial trauma and cataracts in both eyes from the trauma. It is hard not to think this is human inflicted but we do not have any proof. This could have been trauma from a car or another animal or really anything. We can do all we possibly can to adopt out animals to loving homes. We have no idea why the adopter didn’t reach out to us if they didn’t want her anymore. Maybe they just let her outside, maybe she got out and they just didn’t want her back. We will never know these answers but this is the number one biggest fear I have in rescue… adopting to the wrong people.
I am sick to my stomach about this situation and the emotions are overwhelming. But I know I need to move forward and get her the care she needs. I will be reaching out to everyone I know and getting her whatever she needs. She is barely a year old and she didn’t deserve any of this!
Life at the Sanctuary
We had space in our new Animal Care Center to provide Josie the type of home and care she needed. She’s a very sweet, special needs girl, but so resilient and confident. Even though Josie’s sight is impaired, she loves every dog, cat and human she meets!
No one has told Josie that she’s different! She’s spunky and full of life. Since the moment she moved into our Animal Care Center, she’s been very active and gets into everything.
Josie will paw you as you walk by and follows anyone into the bathroom. She seems to always have something up her sleeve and will choose strategic locations to hang out in so she can be included in whatever’s going on.
She’s such a smart girl. She learned how to operate our sensor faucet, so it’s become a new game to her. She doesn’t mind getting wet and we often work to the sound of the faucet going off and on, off and on. We smile knowing that’s our Josie!
In April of 2023, Josie’s eye issues worsened and her eye had to be removed. But that never slows Josie down a bit. Josie may be little, but she holds a huge place in our hearts.
How You Can Help
Our sponsorship program helps support the cats’ care costs and allows you to form a special bond with them. Would you consider becoming Josie’s sponsor parent?
If you’d consider becoming a sponsor parent at $150/year, we’ll be happy to share updates and photos of her whenever you reach out to us. We want you to be an integral part of her life here, too. You can pay the sponsorship fee in a lump sum or $12.50/month.
Or even a one time donation toward her care would be so appreciated. It’s easy to do using the buttons at the top of this page.
Thank you for caring about the little domestic ones who need help, too!
nasal passages and lacrimal systems (tear production) that may be causing her discomfort. The CT scan did not show anything significant that would be causing these problems with her eye.
Her anesthesia was uneventful and the bloodwork they ran was unremarkable. Thankfully, her surgical enucleation (the removal of the eye) went as expected.
