An animal activist discovered an abandoned and neglected cat in late 2016. Its fur had become matted to the point of dreadlocks. The rescuers then worked extra hard to shave off two pounds of fur. The cat had degenerated to this state after her owner was committed to a nursing home due to Alzheimer’s illness. The photographs were provided by the Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“This sad cat was brought to our clinic yesterday after her elderly owner had to relocate to a nursing home,” the center claimed. She was suffering from severe matting that had gone untreated for years. “Our veterinarians removed the pounds of matted fur from her body, and this kitty is doing much better now.” Paul Russell, a distant relative of the cat’s owner, rescued Hidey. Russel also rescued another cat after an elderly man became unable to care for his kitties.
“When they put him in the nursing home, I thought, ‘Hey, he has a cat,’” Russel said to Dodo. I went down and left some food for the car till we decided out what we were going to do because the home was still open. Someone then noted that he had a second cat. So I began looking about, and then this enormous thing darts out from under the bed and goes down to the cellar, and I wondered, ‘What was that?’ At first, I assumed it was a cat dragging down a blanket put over her. But now it’s revealed that it was Hidey. She crept into a cellar nook and hid. I was down there with a flashlight looking—it was almost like something out of a horror film. And I discovered her huddled in the corner. Probably terrified. Most likely in a lot of discomfort.”
Animal rescue personnel who encountered the cat were astounded by the matted fur that had gathered over the years. They suspected this was caused by the cat becoming too obese to properly groom herself. The workers decided to shave it all off and placed her under anesthetic to carefully shave her dreadlocks. “She will be cared for by a distant relative of her prior owner and finally have a chance at a happy and healthy life,” the shelter said in a statement. Please remember to not only check on the elderly in your community, but also on their pets, to avoid incidents like this in the future.”
