About Special Needs Kitty Oliver

Oliver is a kitty that came to me because he needed help due to his “special needs’ In the past I had taken care of rescued cats that were partially blind, deaf and many cats that had behavior or anxiety issue but I never took care of special needs kitty like Oliver.

Oliver age 5

When Oliver was rescued he was a baby kitten that had been left with his siblings on a grassy section of the road. There was no water or food and the only way to get to homes or people was to cross a busy road. When my friend found Oliver she noted that all of the other kittens had ventured into the road and had been killed. Oliver remained in the grass but he was skin and bones and his eyes had clouded over which meant that death was near.

My friend who rescued Oliver took him home and did not sleep for the next 10 days. She nursed Oliver back to health and loved him dearly but said her husband would not let her keep him. So that is how I met Oliver. I was to foster, socialize, and help him to be a normal cat.  We had hoped that we could find him a forever home, but when we discovered his special needs we knew that was not an option. 

From the start I knew something was not right about Oliver. He was a rambunctious kitten that always bites on my hands. At first, I thought it was due to him being a kitten but when he started biting on cats paws I thought maybe he was trying to communicate that he wanted something.

I watched Oliver closely and discovered that he was not eating or drinking. He was very nervous and was constantly biting on my hands. I made up a food and water bowl for Oliver. Picked him up and put him in front of his own bowls and that cat ate and drank.

I soon learned that when Oliver wanted something he would bite on my hands.

Oliver is our special needs kitty because he is “slow” Presently he is five years old and still does not know to go and eat at the food bowl unless I pick him up and put him in front of his own bowl. He also bites my hands to use the litter box and bites my hands when he is scared. He still plays like a kitten and has no fear of any person or animal. He thinks everyone is his friend and that all the cats, dogs, and people love him.

Oliver in the center with his kitty friends

He is incapable of detecting negative energy and does not understand that he needs to climb a tree or seek safety to get away from the neighbors growling dog. 

 We never let Oliver out of the house, not even into the garden. We are fearful that if he gets out that he may get into trouble due to his kitten-like behavior. But one day he got out of the house and all he wanted to do was rub on our neighbor's dog and show the dog that Oliver loved him. We were lucky that we got to Oliver before the dog was aggressive.

Yes Oliver is our special needs kitty, and I need to be with him daily to take care of him. He is five years old rambunctious cat that thinks he's a kitten. He still bites my hands when he wants to eat and drink or if he wants my hand to rest on his back until he falls to sleep. 

Here is another photo of Oliver he is with Frankie our 18 year old cat.  Frankie and Oliver are friends. 

**Oliver eventually learned that it’s okay to eat with the other cats, but if the other cats are not eating and Oliver is hungry or thirsty he will tell me with a love bite on my hand.

Other

I was told that when Oliver’s eyes clouded over that the oxygen to his brain was not normal. When he was rescued he was dying and that is why he is slow.

Read about my other special needs kitty here

Trauma Cats Need Experienced Adopters

Ten weeks ago I agreed to care for a rescued kitten that was near death; eyes had clouded over.  My friend had found the kitten in an abandoned field, she saw that the other littermates had been hit by cars and a few died of malnutrition and or dehydration.  She rescued the one remaining kitten and nursed it back to a stable condition, but could not keep it.  The kitten was surrendered to a senior citizen who loved cats, but the little trauma kitten was too much for the adopter.

The senior citizen was overwhelmed with caring for the trauma kitten. This kitten very small for its age and does not know when to go to their food bowl and needs help with the litter box. We suspect that when the eyes clouded over that perhaps oxygen was lacking in the brain, making this 10-week old kitten slower than most kittens at this age.   When there was no rescue to take the kitten, I took him in.

We named him Oliver and he is now 14 weeks old and is growing very slowly.  He weighs 3.75 pounds, does not know to go to his food bowl to eat when he is hungry and still needs help getting into his litter box.  Other than that he is a delicate little angel.

We had one cat adopter that had teenage boys and both parents worked long hours. The mother said the house was loud and doors were always being left open.  This home was not a good fit for delicate Oliver, as he needs people who will pay attention to him and are aware of his special needs.

Oliver is not a sickly cat, but that is not to say he does not get ill.  Last night   Oliver started vomiting.  It is normal for cats to vomit, but Oliver was throwing up all of his food and when I checked him I realized that he had a fever.  Oliver spent the next two hours on my lap and when my husband came home and examined him we both agreed that he was too small to have a fever and to be sick.

Even though Oliver was up to date with his booster shots, he had symptoms of a cat cold with a fever.  So he got an antibiotic shot and we were told to watch him  and if there were no signs of improvement we were to take him back to the veterinarian

Today I spoke to the rescue who had surrendered Oliver to me and we both agreed that whoever adopts Oliver, that they need to be experienced with handling trauma cats because Oliver is a cat that needs special loving care.

Special Cat Needs Forever Home

Last November husband found a mature gray cat sitting in the middle of the street in the snow. The night was really cold and no cat should have been out. Normally a cat would run from a stranger but this cat approached my husband and did not hesitate to be lifted up by my husband. In fact, the cat seemed eager to be put under my husband's coat.

Leo on the day we rescued him

So this is how I came to know the cat we named Leo.

For the next several weeks we searched for this cat's people and when the search was completed we had learned that it was a community cat and that his people h ad died. A neighbor said they would care for the cat, but Leo did not like their cat so they put the cat outdoors in the winter with no shelter.

When I asked them if they wanted the cat, the people said no “that cat is not nice” is what they told me.

Know that I felt bad for the cat since he was a mature cat, probably lived with the same person his entire life. Then his person dies, the cat's life is turned upside down and ends up on the street on a cold night. Did not seem fair and I felt so bad for this cat.

So we took Leo into our home. We got him his shots and learned that he had arthritis. We made arrangements for shots and learned that this cat was approximately 8 years old.  Leo likes my husband more than me, but that does not mean that he does not lie on my lap and play with his toys with me.

Everyone who meets Leo says “what a nice cat”

Leo is a nice cat, he is affectionate and laid back. He will cuddle with his people and sleep at the foot of your bed. He will walk on a leash around the block and will come when you call him. BUT Leo does not like dogs or other cats.

Leo is a large mature cat, age 8 that needs a people only forever home

We have tried the Feliway behavior products, the rescue remedy liquid treatment for cats water, and other cat stress remedies and they work for a while but Leo’s resentment toward other animals is great and he is determined to fight, to hog the food bowl, act like all cats litter boxes are his, he also hogs all 4 water bowls.

Leo will be lying on my lap on the sofa and if the dog or another cat comes close to the sofa.  Leo will run after them.  This rescue cat is set in his way and loves people BUT does not tolerate other pets.

We took Leo to the veterinarian and he was given a prescription for  Calm cat food by Royal Cannin. Leo did well on this food but it was really expensive.  If we had Leo and one other cat, okay but we have two other cats and a dog and that is too much food to buy for all the pets.

Leo needs a forever home with people only

My husband and I like Leo, he is a nice cat with humans. We would keep him if we had an office away from the home where Leo could stay. As is, even if we keep him in our home office, he may get out and then start a fight with another cat or the dog. So we decided that Leo is a cat that has to be in a home with people only, so this week we are looking for a forever home for Leo.

My Kitten Has a Disability

Day we found kittens

My rescue kitten has special needs but we do not care because she is so sweet and loving. 

We took good care of this little rescue kitten because we knew she was not quite right. This  kitten is very small for her age, in fact her siblings are three times her size. But even though she is petite she has a big heart and tries her best to keep up with the other cats.

I suppose in nature the mother cat would have left this baby go, after all she was the runt. She was frail when I found her on the side of the road.  We always had a problem with getting her to eat and so we needed to bottle feed her, and when we weaned her we still had to feed her away from the other cats. 

My special needs kitten

We found out when she went in for her wellness exam that she is a special needs cat; underdeveloped for her age and vision disability.

  

Her disability makes her a special kitty, but know that we love her all the more and will eventually find her a forever home where the cat adopter will care for her and treat my rescued kitten "Sally" like a princess for the rest of her cat life.