(SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM FOR LATEST UPDATE ON CORA)
Would you like to adopt Cora?
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Cora showed up on the ‘Bean Farm’ last spring. We’d see her on occasion but she never let us get very close. Then one summer day she decided to make herself a home under my carport.
She’s always been super chatty, but very skittish and scared of everything. She has a clipped ear (a sign that she’s a feral that was picked up and ‘fixed’ before being returned to ‘the wild’), but it’s always seemed that she wasn’t really feral at all–that somewhere in her life she used to belong to a human (even though she wouldn’t let us get very close to her)!
After a couple of months of feeding her, we noticed that she was having some massive problems. She would start hissing and growling at her backend and pick a fight with her tail. These ‘events’ as we started calling them, were very violent and hard to watch. She’d end up attacking her tail, slicing it open with oozing blood. So, we knew we had to trap her and get her to the vet.
It took nearly 2 weeks to trap her in order to take her to the vet. As it turns out, Cora has a very severe version of Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome (FHS) which is basically a non-curable neurological disease where her nerves turn on her. She feels like she’s getting attacked so she attacks back.
They don’t fully understand what causes it and even though there is no cure, there are ways to help manage it and make life more bearable.
Cora is currently on medications that are helping a ton, but not completely. The next step is a tail amputation. She also might need other help (her teeth possibly? But nobody has been able to look at them yet).
Since returning from the vet, Cora’s been living in the greenhouse/potting shed on the farm. She loves it in there and seems very content. She’s also become the most lovey little cat ever. She can’t get enough attention and brushing and hanging out near us when we’re visiting her. She’s such a sweet, sweet girl.
We’d really love to give Cora a chance at living life as pain-free and normal as she can. But we need help. That’s how we came up with this fundraising idea. Any way you can help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance from us and Cora!
CORA UPDATE: 3-21
In the months since we posted Cora’s story, we’ve been amazed at her improvement. At first, we were told by more than one vet that putting her down would probably be the best answer. But we didn’t want to give up on Cora without even trying.
In the beginning, her condition was heartbreaking. She’d attack her tail and chew it to shreds. The best-case scenario was thought to be a tail amputation (which was an iffy solution but has helped other cats with the same condition some on occasion–and we thought it was worth a shot and certainly better than putting her down right away.)
We moved Cora into the pottery studio on the farm where she could have heat and light, switched her to a freeze-dried raw food diet, started her on kitty CBD and Gabapentin doses twice a day and we could see her improvement almost daily.
Cora is now living a fairly normal life. She’s not chewing or attacking her tail at all. In fact, she’s not even growling at it or holding it down like she did (on the good days). Her tail is completely healed and we can’t even feel any residue damage, which is pretty amazing.
Cora has also come out of her shell. At first it was like she didn’t know how to play. We’d give her toys and try to engage her and she’d stare at us blankly. Several of her ‘fans’ lavished toys and gifts on her and we couldn’t interest her in them.
Then one day, she started playing a little. And now she LOVES to play. Cora has become an active, playful, sweet cat. She loves pets and loves to purr.
Would you like to take Cora home?
Cora has been to the vet several times in the past few months and she’s all caught up on her shots. They estimate her age to be around 5-8 years old. They said her teeth look good. She’s been tested for all the typical cat things–worms, feline leukemia and etc. and she’s ready for a furr-ever home.
The perfect home would be quiet (probably without other pets or kids) with someone that has a pretty consistent schedule (she’ll likely need meds 2x per day for the rest of her life) and the ability to pay for higher-end cat food (dry and low-end cat food are some of the things that make her condition worse). Patience is also a must. While Cora is a super SUPER sweet cat, it will take her a while to settle in and feel at home in strange surroundings. She’s also easily startled by out-of-the-ordinary loud noises or fast movements, etc.
We do think that Cora will be a wonderful addition to the right home. She has a lot of love to give and once you win her trust, you’ll have constantly purring fur ball by your side. (For more information on the details of Cora’s adoption, please click the orange adoption link below).