If you follow Ten Lives Cat Rescue’s social media accounts, you may have seen a one-year-old cat named Dash grace our pages. She’s playful, she loves to snuggle, and she’s working on her socialization skills. You may have also noticed that Dash does not have use of her rear legs, but this doesn’t stop her from roaming her foster home and scaling beds, couches, and other furniture with little help!
Rescued in January, Dash joined our program after her initial rescuer could no longer provide adequate care for her. As a kitten, Dash was injured and lost function of her rear legs. When she arrived at her Ten Lives foster mom’s home, she was terrified of everything, was extremely dirty, and was medically a mess. It was obvious that she had been neglected for quite some time, and according to our vet, was in the worst shape they had ever seen a cat in. According to her foster mom, if she was trying to nap and you moved around in the same room, she would immediately wake up, as if she could never truly relax. Essentially, everyone she had known prior to arriving in Ten Lives’ care had let her down.
Together, Dash and her foster mom fell into a care routine, which involves the occasional bath, playtime, changing Dash’s diaper, feeding her, and relaxing together on the couch. After extensive medical care and patience, Dash is almost a completely new cat from who she was six months ago.
She’s learned to trust her foster mom, and if her foster mom is in the same room while she’s napping now, she barely stirs. Dash’s favorite place to sleep is right up against her foster mom in bed. Dash also loves to play, and has a favorite little mouse toy that she has absolutely annihilated.
Dash’s foster mom says that while it was difficult in the beginning, Dash’s care routine is easy for a special needs cat. She eats and goes to the bathroom at the same time every day, and wears a diaper and uses puppy pads. In comparison to a healthy cat or kitten, Dash is considered a high maintenance cat. However, she’s worth it, and shows her gratitude in a multitude of ways.
Dash is part of our Forgotten Feline Program, which aims to help scared and under-socialized cats who are considered “unadoptable” by other shelters. With the help of our dedicated foster families, we are able to give them the support they need to blossom.
If you are interested in sponsoring Dash, please click here.
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