Nelson was five weeks old (and absolutely flea ridden) when SHUA picked her up from a decrepid shed in Barry. It was pitch black & the shed was inadequately illuminated by one lightbulb. SHUA had been alerted to the situation by neighbours who told us that there were 15 or so kittens in this one shed - we only ever found 3; and only 1 of these was alive.
It wasn't until we got the kitten back to the sanctuary that we could see that something was terribly wrong with her left eye. It had been injured beyond repair by a metal spike. She urgently needed an operation to remove the eye but the vets said it was simply too dangerous to operate on such a young kitten. Within a few weeks it was obvious that the pain was too great for her to bear. She would continually bury her head and paw her face. We took her to a specialist cat clinic and the vet there agreed that once she weighed one pound (about 450 grams), he would operate. We encouraged her to eat as much as she could manage!
Nelson functions perfectly well with only one eye and is now a happy, healthy young adult cat. She is alpha-female of our handicapped cats wing; she slaps all new arrivals around the face, just so that it is clear who is in charge! All the cats look up to Nelson and trust her instincts; if she is happy, they are happy; if she is nervous or scared, mass panic ensues!
Nelson was adopted in 2004 but sadly her new Dad turned out to be extremely allergic to her. Nelson was returned to SHUA and was devastated at what she could only interpret as rejection. In most circumstances, that would be the end of the story. But Nelson's new family are incredibly special people who love Nelson so much and were so upset at not being able to keep her full-time that they worked out a compromise: Dad doses up on antihistimines regularly so that Nelson can stay with them for lots of mini-breaks throughout the year. She even spends Christmas with them. She adores her new family and they spoil her rotten.
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