We here at The Best Cat Page recently stumbled upon the story of this exceptional young cat named, Pandora, who already seems to have been through a lot in her young life.
After reading her story. we were in contact with her human, Aurora, to learn more about the struggles and difficult times this cute, little black beauty is still facing.
This is the story of Pandora!
Aurora told us here at The Best Cat Page, “When I first met Pandora, she was very skinny and covered in fleas.
On my way home one day, I heard a cat making all kinds of noise in my apartment building lobby. When I went to investigate, I spotted a tiny kitten crying for help, while trying to climb the lobby walls to get to safety.
A passing neighbour told me that earlier in the day, the building superintendent discovered a mother cat and her kittens in an abandoned, filthy apartment with no food or water. One of the kittens fled the apartment as soon as the door opened – and I was sure that this was the same kitten who ended up in the lobby.
Although I already had 4 cats, I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from this poor little creature. I thought the least I could do was bring her upstairs, and give her food, water, and a safe place to stay while I tried to find a home for her.
Within 10-minutes of her arrival, Pandora thanked me for rescuing her by showering me with kitten kisses. I quickly realized that this was one special kitty.
When I took Pandora to the vet for a checkup, I found out that she was approximately 4-months old, very underweight, covered in fleas, and riddled with worms.
Once her medical issues were addressed, it was time to introduce Pandora to her temporary roommates, my cats Neo, Melody, Shadow, and Blaze.
While it was pretty clear that there were going to be some territorial issues between my cats and the once-homeless kitten, it seemed that Neo sensed Pandora’s distress. To my surprise (and relief), Neo took it upon herself to stand guard over the kitten whenever she went for food and water.
When Neo suffered a stroke and had to be put to sleep exactly 1-month after I found Pandora, I decided to stop looking for a new home for her. Neo’s death left a huge hole in my heart … and I realized that Pandora was already home.
For a while, life was great!
However, over the next couple of years, our family had one health crisis after another.
· In 2012, Shadow had a bad seizure, and I was told he would need anti-seizure medication for the rest of his life.
· Mid-way through 2013, I was forced to quit/retire from work and school, due to chronic pain and fatigue caused by severe Rheumatoid Arthritis.
· On October 23rd, 2014, Blaze had surgery to remove a cancerous lesion.
· Four days later, I was back at the vet with Shadow, and he was diagnosed with feline diabetes.
Shortly after this, I began to notice that Pandora was scratching herself pretty frequently, especially around her face, ears, and chin.
I didn’t want Pandora to suffer, but as a disabled person on social assistance, I just couldn’t afford another trip to the vet.
Although Pandora’s bouts of itchiness came and went, when I woke up one morning to the sight of fresh cuts and blood all over Pandora’s sweet face and around her eyes, I took her to the vet immediately, and she was diagnosed with a food allergy.
As Pandora transitioned onto a limited ingredient diet to help with her food allergy, her skin gradually cleared up, and life returned to normal.
Early in 2016, I took Pandora back to the vet, as she had some redness and swelling on her gums that appeared to be causing her some pain and discomfort.
While the vet’s initial examination revealed that Pandora’s left, upper canine tooth is abscessed and needs to be extracted, subsequent x-rays may reveal more problem teeth that have to be extracted, as well.
Therefore, the total estimated cost of Pandora’s dental surgery depends on how many teeth she needs to have extracted.
To help keep Pandora comfortable while she waits for dental extraction surgery, the vet prescribed antibiotics and pain medication, to be delivered twice daily.”
Since we here at The Best Cat Page have a soft spot for all cats, and especially black cats, we wanted to put Pandora’s story out there,
The moral of the story is that our cats don’t care what we have and don’t have as long as we are able to love them and nurture them and of course, feed them. Sometimes, and sadly, that connection and love we have for our cats just isn’t enough. Sometimes situations occur such as medical emergencies which we may not be able to handle ourselves. Sometimes love, it just ain’t enough.
We are betting there are a good number of pet owners who, although they love their pets very deeply, wouldn’t be able to just cough up a thousand dollars or more for an emergency surgery no matter how needed it was.
Most cat people are not rich. They do the best whoever they are, wherever they are with whatever they have.
To learn more about Pandora, a gofundme page has been set up to help gather the money needed for her dental surgery.
https://www.gofundme.com/gtkbcddp
We here at The Best Cat Page wish Aurora and Pandora and the rest of the furries the very best.
