Wonderful Update from Debbie R

Friend of Joa’s Arc, Debbie R, wrote to us last night about two of the cats she ended up with from the hoarder's house. Deb wrote:

I just wanted to give you the final chapter regarding "Nelson", one of the last cats to come out of the hoarder house who was estimated to be about 3 years old and "Lakota", the first cat to come out with the eight kittens.

Nelson was not neutered and all four eyelids suffered from entropian (they think he had the painful eyelid issue his whole life). My vet neutered him during an initial examination and another vet in the office did the entropian surgery a few weeks later.

Since then, Nelson has come out of his shell. He lives freely in my (heated) garage among the other somewhat "unadoptable" kitties. He doesn't come to me but I can tell that he is so much happier. His eyes are open almost fully open, more than they ever were able to open. He now tries to play with the other cats and enjoys bouncing around the catnip mouse. I think he has just discovered toys because he acts "kitten-ish". He also head butts the other cats and rolls over playfully. He knows the shaking of the treat jar and comes running when he hears it. He spends his days sleeping near the heater or perched high on one of the five cat trees looking out the window.

Although his "friend" was released into my colony, I don't feel that Nelson is feral enough nor sees well enough to live on his own outside. So I have made the decision that although he doesn't want human contact (thank you very much, hoarder house lady), I will let him live his life out with me and the "unadoptables". I continue to talk to him and coax him to come to me and hope that some day he will trust humans.

"Lakota" is similar to "Nelson" in that she's not feral but doesn't need human contact. She, too, will live her life with the "unadoptables".

I truly am in awe of all that you ladies do on a daily basis and for the effort that you put forth in this hoarding situation. I don't think you got the recognition in this situation that you deserve when others swooped in for the glory. But I know you were willing to deal with that if the animals were safe and for that, I admire you.

Debbie also sent the recent photos included in this post of Nelson and Lakota in her email. Look how wonderful Nelson's eyes look!

I wrote back to Deb and I told her how wonderful she was - wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I expressed to her that although the lives these cats lead before us breaks my heart, I am happy these cats found their way to someone as caring and thoughtful as Debbie.

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