I haven't shared a whole lot about Ember here, but she recently transitioned from being a long-term foster to our cat. Since September 1st is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, it seemed a good day to introduce her.
Ember was left behind when her people moved away and left her to fend for herself outside. The rescue got a call that she was a young and declawed cat left by folks who moved away. Some fairly elderly folks were caring for her outside but had myriad health problems and weren't able to really help her. (They were feeding her a lot of scrambled eggs and toast...) A female orange cat (80% of orange cats are male) who is declawed would be a very quick adoption we thought. A quick in and out. Not so fast...
Ember turned out to have a whole pile of medical issues, ones we have never entirely sorted out. She is perpetually congested. Earlier this year we did a nasal wash (under sedation) and tested the bacteria, which turned out to be a very rare one, and difficult to cure. Only two antibiotics had a chance. The first did so-so, and the second worked the first time, and then her congestion came back. We're using the second one again, but it is only working so-so. We've been trying to help her with this issue for about a year and a half, and we'll have to keep at it.
She also has some crusty lesions, and some raw ones, on various parts of her body. (It isn't ringworm!) The second antibiotic seemed to get rid of those the first time, but they, too, are back. All in all, not an adoptable cat.
She is, however, a very nice cat, and not terribly uncomfortable with her various issues, so rather than leave her as a permanent foster we adopted her formally recently, and will continue to look for solutions to her various health issues. She's around three years old...best guess. We wouldn't normally take in a cat that young as we approach our 7th decade on this planet, but she's made herself at home here. She's also pretty shy and forcing her to move somewhere else, after having been abandoned once, didn't make much sense.
So here she lives, and she's happy, even though she has a bit of a permanent grumpy face! Happy Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, Ember.
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