March 30, 2017 By Jodie Edmond
On Inauguration Day 2017, I saw a post on our local lost and found pet page about a white cat running scared at a local truck stop, almost being hit by cars and sitting dejected on a street corner. Recognizing the location as being one of my feral cat colonies I immediately went and set traps and walked the area.
Not having any luck I decided to keep an eye out for her as I went about feeding the colony on my daily routine. I caught a brief glimpse of a white cat fitting the description mid week at my feeding station. The following week I saw her again and ran home and grabbed a trap. Within two hours I had trapped the saddest, the most sickly cat I have ever seen. She had no fur covering the entire bottom half of her body and I wonder how she survived in the cold Oregon rain with no fur to keep her warm.
I took her to the spay clinic the next day and was turned away because she was too sick to anesthetize. I took her straight to the vet and the vet admitted he had never seen a case so severe. She had ringworm and an upper respiratory infection and weighed less than 4 pounds. Sent home with antibiotics and ringworm meds, I diligently set about to get her feeling better. I prepared a nice crate with heating pads and a warm place for her to feel safe. I decided to name her Vona which is the Icelandic word for Hope and it seemed fitting for such a gentle and sweet soul. She cried for several days and clung to me and was unlike any cat I have ever owned.
Slowly, Vona came around and her fur started growing back. She has doubled her body weight and her fur has grown back to a shiny beautiful medium length coat. Vona has the most soulful eyes and has captivated many in the two months we have had her. She has her forever home here with us. She was spayed today and the spay clinic couldn’t believe she was the same cat I brought in two months ago.
Jodie
Jodie runs Facebook: Mollies Menagerie, a page that embraces her work with feral cats.
Photos by Jodie Edmond
What a beautiful story. God bless the rescued and rescuer.
A perfect ending to an almost tragic story. 🐾💜💜
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Jodie.
Thank you for publishing this story. Vona has such a special place in my heart. She is only 10 months old and her fur is so shiny and soft. We have had the coldest winter in history in the Pacific Northwest and how she survived in the cold I will never know. She is so grateful to have a home now and she trills and talks and nuzzles up to me whenever I am near. She is slowly meeting the other animals of the house but is still shy. She will be a wonderful addition to our family.
The photo I am attaching is one I took just a day after rescuing her. She clung to me and I will never forget that.
Michael, this touches my heart strings. 2 months ago, my son and I rescued a little ninja (black) kitty from what would have been a certain death had we not found her that night. She was literally a bag of bones and had patches of fur missing all over as well. It was one of those cold winter nights, and my vet and I agreed that she would not have made it through the night. I kept her in a crate overnight until I could get her to my vet the next morning. She was checked out and completely safe to be around my current *kids*. My vet only gave her a 50-50 chance to survive. 2 months later, she is full of life, her fur is all grown back and she is pretty much back to normal weight. I took her to see my vet when I had to take one of my other *kids* in for his yearly check-up. My vet was totally shocked, but very ecstatic!! He could not believe his eyes!! He looked at me point blank and said that he did not expect her to live. He was so very happy with and for me and little Isabella Rey!! So I can totally relate to this story!! I am now back up to 13 adopted/rescued kitties. ♥♥♥ Bless Vona and her forever family!! ♥♥♥