Lucy is my current cat, and unusually for me, only 9 (she was 8 when I adopted her) - when I went looking, the rescue did have a pair of older cats, but they had only just arrived, and I wanted one that had been waiting a while - I was torn between her and another cat, but Lucy was the oldest, and had been there the longest - officially just short of 2 years, but she did have a 6 month break when someone gave her a chance but it didn't work, so she was really depressed by the time I met her. She was rather lucky though, she bit me the first time I met her, most people wouldn't have given her the chance - she had also drawn blood on most of the volunteers!! We've had lots of issues with her behavioural problems (worst being nearly blinded and a black eye!!) but some are getting better - the worst is her fear controls her, for example she rarely goes out on a Fri morning because it is bin collection day!! She came from a domestic violence situation, hence her issue with noise. She was also really overweight when I got her - she was 5.6kg when I got her, the vet wanted to get her down to 5kg. It took 15 months, but we eventually managed it. She has really bad scavenging issues, and for really random things like Chinese food and scones - suspect she was left to find her own food quite frequently. One irony is that at the rescue, all she did was sit on your knee, but as soon as she got here, that went out the window, she rarely sits on you now.
She had always had a funny walk, but due to her temperament, we had been using supplements, until last Oct, when she started limping. The vet suspected arthritis, but because she came from a domestic abuse background, she wanted to x-ray, in case it was an old injury that never got treated. X-rays showed she has hip dysplasia, both hips are affected but right is worse and she is starting with arthritis because of it. Unfortunately she was wary of Metacam being put in her food, so we went down the acupuncture route - simply because I didn't think we would stand a chance, but she has accepted it. Then in Jan, the vet thought she may have luxating patellas, which are rare in cats! The orthopaedic vet looked at her x ray's and thinks it might be her hips sending her knee out. She went for a consult in March, when they decided she needed surgery, which she had last Tue. Unfortunately her pre-op bloods showed early renal problems, luckily we've caught it so early that we have just changed her biscuits, and we will do more regular blood tests.
Unfortunately I'm struggling with pics, but she is a very pretty tabby and white.
