The O'Malley Alley Cat Organization
(TOMACO)

Happy Tails, Page 14

Annie Sue was trapped in February 2003 as a feral in a rather large colony. She was very thin and suffering from a severe upper respiratory. One of the Veterinarian's helping us with Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) truly thought she had feline leuekima when she came in. After testing negative, Annie was spayed, vaccinated for rabies, and eartipped.

An O'Malley volunteer agreed to keep her longer than the 24-48 hours we normally allow for recovery after spaying before returning the cat to familiar location. There was no doubt that this sickly kitty needed a lot of care and good nutrition before going anywhere. Late that evening, the volunteer started mixing the liquid antibiotics in wet food and the sickly kitty in the crate came alive. She literally started dancing and begging for food.

The volunteer knew right then this kitty was not a feral and opened the crate. Out pops Annie Sue burying her head in the food and then in the volunteer's lap. Needless to say, Annie was not going to be returned to the life of a feral.

Evidently Annie was left behind to fend for herself when her owner moved. She did not fare well at all. Furthermore we learned that Annie had been declawed which explained why she was so very ill and malnourished. She simply was not able to care for herself in the great outdoors! Another few weeks on her own and we would not be writing this story about Annie.

Although Annie was now safe, her life was still very rocky. Over the next 3 years, Annie was returned for a number of reasons. Her first owner realized she had a cat allergy after a week. Her second owner who owned her for two and-a-half years put Annie outside during their two week vacation unattended. Annie was soon trapped by a neighbor and taken to the Animal Shelter.

Because of her ear tip, the manager called O'Malley to report her. Thank goodness for that ear tip. Annie's life was again spared! Annie soon found another home but was again returned because she and the other cat didn't get along. Given that Annie is so adorable, she was adopted yet again but returned 3 months later because she was "too needy". Hmmm, wonder why? Being moved around from home to home would leave emotional scarring on any being!

Finally, the happy story emerges. Annie meets a real friend in a college student named Clare. However, Clare's Dad, also her landlord, needed some convincing. It wasn't long thereafter that Clare and her step-mom convinced Dad that Annie would be perfect. They were right.

Annie and Clare are absolutely perfect for each other. They both needed each other desperately and have both flourished with each other's love. Just check out these pictures. Whoever came up with the quote "a picture says a thousand words", were absolutely right!

Now this is truly a Cinderalla story.

Diana & Samantha,

I wanted to share with you our good news. We adopted a new baby brother for Toto last weekend. His name is Zeus and he was rescued from the Abilene pound by the Forget Me Not Pets organization one day before he was due to be euthanized. He is about eight weeks old and a totally precious little angel. I was worried that it would take Toto a long time to accept him but they are already playing and sleeping together after only a few days. I knew Toto needed someone to play with and that we had been alone long enough to have developed a strong bond with each other. Anyway, just wanted to share our new joy with you. Thank you both again for bringing Toto into our lives. He is my very best friend and the best behaved cat I have ever had. He is spoiled rotten of course but he is fully leash trained, which I am amazed about. I love him more than you can imagine. Now we have a new baby to watch grow into a fine cat like Toto.

Thank you,
Gloria

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