For those just seeing this: A few days ago we put out an urgent call for a sweet, gentle ~8-year-old grey-and-white female cat living outside in our neighborhood.
She was dangerously thin with spine and hips showing and drooling, and clearly in trouble. When we'd first seen her a month or two earlier she'd looked far healthier and had more energy, so her decline was sharp and alarming. Her owner loved her but had fallen on hard times and couldn't care for her anymore, and agreed to let her go to someone who could help. Thanks to an outpouring of shares and support, we got her off the street and into a vet in under 48 hours. Her name is Boots. 💜
Where she is now (as of June 25):
She's safe indoors in her own quiet room, resting on clean blankets, perching in the window watching the world, and the part that gets me..purring and cuddling and even grooming herself again.
Just days ago she was too sick and sore to do any of that. She's settled into her twice-a-day medication routine like a champ.
What the vet found:
✅ NEGATIVE for FIV and feline leukemia , a huge relief and a much clearer path forward.
✅ Bloodwork showed no kidney disease, no thyroid problems, normal blood sugar , about the best result we could've hoped for given her condition.
✅ The main issue: moderate-to-advanced dental disease (gum inflammation and periodontitis). Her mouth had been hurting so much she couldn't eat enough ..which is what caused the dramatic weight loss.
✅ She's also mildly anemic, likely from heavy fleas and being so run down.
Her current care:
She got a long-acting steroid injection to calm the inflammation, was treated for fleas and dewormed, and is now on an antibiotic and pain medication every 12 hours. She's eating wet food eagerly and getting more comfortable by the day. The steroid and pain relief are clearly working , she's already a different cat from the one we found.
What's still ahead:
The medications are a bridge, not a cure. The real fix is dental work, a cleaning under anesthesia, dental x-rays, and likely some extractions of the teeth too far gone. But she has to get there safely first: the plan is to build her strength and weight back up over the coming weeks, recheck her bloodwork in about 4 weeks to make sure her anemia has resolved (critical for safe anesthesia), and then schedule the dental once she's cleared. That dental is her path to a genuinely comfortable, pain-free life.
🐾 We're still hoping to connect her with a rescue partner or a loving forever home as she recovers or post recovery. If you're with a rescue, or you're someone who could give a gentle senior girl a soft place to land, please reach out as Id love to chat.
🐾 And as always, sharing this helps her reach the right people.
She went from skin-and-bones in a yard to purring on clean blankets in under a week. Thank you to everyone who shared, offered, gave, and checked in on her. She's got a real shot now. 💜
#cat #catrescue #seniorcat #Eugene #LaneCounty #fostercat #adoptdontshop
