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Christmas 2017, Special Tails
Additional Info
- Accept Me As I Am
About Callie
The Fourth Save of Christmas 2017: Callie
Accept Me As I Am
The family that adopted Callie from the SPCA and later returned her included two small children, a cat, and multiple dogs. They reported that Callie slept on the bed, played well with the children, ignored the other cat, and was good around the dogs. What, then, was the reason to return such a pretty, fluffy cat to a crowded shelter and uncertain fate?
Constipation. That was it. We do not know what Callie’s diet was in her last home, but when she arrived at the SPCA, her constipation was so far out of control that she needed an enema to be performed under anesthesia. She had also lost weight, probably because she had been too uncomfortable to eat. Now she needed to be monitored and fed a special diet to regain her health and be made ready for adoption. For this reason, she was offered to rescue, and we happily took her in.
It is a common misconception that purebred rescues are somehow in competition with shelters for the most adoptable cats, but in fact we collaborate closely. Many of our rescue cats come to us after arriving at a shelter with special care requirements the shelter is not equipped to meet. Such requirements can range from needing to be thoroughly brushed every day, in the case of a Persian, to having a remediable illness, such as a cold, or something more serious.
Despite physical discomfort and the recent shock of a noisy shelter, Callie quickly settled into her foster home. She is the sweetest cat and lovely too, as you can see in the photos, with deep copper eyes and soft, medium-length fur. She wholeheartedly ignores her current foster cat brothers, instead preferring to curl up and purr on someone’s lap. Even if that lap is already occupied, Callie doesn’t mind sharing.
Given Callie’s history of constipation, her foster mom worked with the local vet and fellow rescue fosters to create a diet that would keep Callie regular. Thanks to this collaboration, Callie was stabilized within the first week of rescue and gained weight, but it took some time to discover the ideal balance of food with fiber supplements. She is now stable on a daily dose of Miralax mixed in A/D canned food and Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Fiber Response dry cat food. Callie’s foster mom ensures that she eliminates daily, and if a couple of days have passed since her last movement, Callie is given a dose of Cisapride, a medicine commonly used to treat megacolon in cats. The veterinarian feels that, over time and with a high-fiber diet, Callie might no longer need medication.
Callie’s charms make it likely that she will soon find her way to a loving, diet-conscious family. Not every cat is as affectionate to humans, tolerant of children, other cats, and dogs, as Callie is. What makes her story stand out, to many of us, is how quickly some people will give up on an otherwise perfect companion who simply requires a level of attention they are not prepared to give. At this time of year, let us all rededicate ourselves to accepting one another as we would wish for others to accept us.