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When you wish upon a star... Found lifeless on the side of the road, Andromeda looked for a bright spot Lying on the side of the road, motionless but still alive, an injured elderly cat waited for someone -- anyone -- to care. Thank goodness for Carmen. Carmen called HSHV's 24/7 emergency rescue line. Rescue Officer Steven Seever brought the tiny 7-pound stray grey tiger cat back to HSHV. "She was missing teeth, both her eyes looked severely disfigured, her ears were filled with black stuff, and she couldn't move on her own," says Steven, "but she purred the whole time our veterinarian was examining her." Perhaps she knew her darkest day was over. HSHV staff named her "Andromeda," a bright constellation made of many stars. At the shelter, nine-year-old Andromeda gobbled up her food with glee. She "kneaded" her paws, and even purred in her sleep. It didn't seem to matter to Andromeda that she had no teeth. That she had thick yellow goop oozing from her eyes. That she had fleas filling her fur. She was happy to sleep in a litter box. Staff quickly gave her a new, comfy box, lined with soft blankets, which she promptly climbed into, while purring. Andromeda seemed overjoyed just to be cared for. And she needed a lot of care. In addition to the conditions mentioned that were visible, Andromeda had renal failure and "entropian" in both her left and right eyes. Though she seemed to be managing her kidney condition okay, entropian is a very uncomfortable condition where the lower eyelids curl inward, and the furred part of the eyelid rubs on the surface of the eye. It not only causes constant irritation of the eye, but also numerous other complications like difficulty seeing, and squinting, and often leads to ulcers in the eye. So an HSHV surgeon performed double entropian surgery, carefully removing small wedges of tissue just below the lower eyelids, and lifting the abnormal and uncomfortable tissue up off the cornea, allowing Andromeda to see again. Less than three weeks after her eye surgery, someone else saw the greatness in this little old cat. Andromeda found her forever home. |
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