Hit by a car, lost his leg, had a broken heart and had almost no reason to live. Destroyed by a series of circumstances that ruined his life. That is the story about Mandarina.
Visiting a veterinarian clinic has its benefits. In addition to saving the life you are currently saving, you can also save another one. Exactly this happened to us.
Being in the clinic with our patient, checking his health, and chatting with him when he waits in the cage after surgery makes him happy and not alone. While we are there, we also think about other patients. Several of them have been rescued from the streets and are waiting for a kind soul to take them home.
A beautiful big ginger boy is among them. He looks sad to me telling the story...
Each time I saw him, I was moved to tears. How much can life stink and how many horrible things can happen in just a few days.
During the last few weeks, this boy has lost at least half of his 9 lives, and he is not really happy to live this way. I was trying to convince him every day not to give up. Every day I gave him as much power as possible to support him. He was very happy. Hug me a lot, show me his belly and be happy as much as his situation allows. Despite his loud purring, you can see in his eyes that there's something missing and there's not a real lucky sight.
Honestly, I'm not surprised. I am likely to lose faith in such a situation as well.
So what happened?
Firstly, a car hit him and he broke his leg severely. He was found on the street, and a kind soul took him to the hospital. Despite paying as much as they could, they left him there, owing to the fact that they are unable to afford to have a cat. Their decision. I am glad they saved his life. That matters most.
Turns out the broken leg had to be removed. Too many and very badly broken parts were present, so it was unlikely that the leg could be saved. In addition, Ginger would be in great pain.
The job was done.
Proud, big strong Ginger had to lose his leg. After an amputation, the majority of cats don't seem to care too much and continue to lead their lives almost as they did before. However, Ginger was different. He didn't look like a stray, so maybe it was connected to losing his family. Somebody probably threw him out because it's so fu*king fashion on this monkey island.
Oh, by the way. Ginger was named Mandarina. Not by us, but by someone from the clinic.
Now his mind was screwed up. His eyes were empty. There was no life in them. There is no doubt that he was greatly saddened by everything that had occurred in such a short period of time. I know it's rare, but it happens.
We visited him every day. We spent at least half an hour with him, trying to make him happy and give him a reason to live again. His life was going to improve. There were times when he showed signs of life inside. Great results. I was looking forward to meeting him the next day.
However, he wasn't there on that day.
A man adopted Mandarina on the spot because he fell in love with him at first sight (people at the clinic reported it)
This made me so happy. Three legs and someone adopted him? Incredible and awesome! That really made my day.
In a few days we have visited clinic again with another of our patients.
My eyes couldn't believe what I saw.
Mandarina!
WTF!?
The guy brought Mandarina back in two days because he was hiding under the bed and didn't want to leave. It's obvious the love was sleeping somewhere and the man is an xxxxx!
Mandarina was broken. A completely broken cat. He was already sad before, but now he is truly out of this world. Couldn't play, talk, or even snuggle. The way he looked at me few times and his eyes told me: I don't trust people anymore and I don't want to live!
It was not possible to leave him like that, so I took him to our shelter that day. He was not happy, he was not smiling. He did not cry in the car as cats usually do. Just sat and awaited "execution"
We made a promise when we got there. He'll change his mind if he'll give us a chance to prove him wrong, not everyone is so bad as the man who adopted him. I told him give us a little while.
He didn't seem interested, but I know he knew what I was saying. Maybe in his mind, he had a tiny place where he believed in what I said.
There were a few other cats in the same room as him. All of them were realxing and quiet, so he wasn't afraid of anything.
The day and night were filled with dry food, morning food, and food in the evening. Fresh water and a lot of cuddles went along with the food. We've worked hard every day to make sure he knows we're the ones he can trust.
Two weeks have gone by, and not much has changed. We were getting desperate, but we didn't give up!
Two more months later, we finally got it. We are trustworthy for him, we really love him, and we only want the best for him. Now he shows off his belly, purr loudly (he even got to 70db, which is higher than the world record), bites us with love, walks with us, tails us.
At that time we thought, he should be closer to us so we took him to the room that is close to our apartment and where "the worst patients" live.
A day was enough for him to get used to the place. Excellent progress. No step back and that is great. Daily routine with all patients turned him almost into a family pet. It was he who oversaw the room and who cared for others as well. His eyes flashed with the right spark of happiness as he played with another three-legged cat and others.
He longed to live again. He promised to find a great family for him. Otherwise, he should stay with us rather than be just a little unhappy.
And the day D really has come.
Mandarina spent almost four months with us and we were still not sure if he was ready for adoption. But then came a couple. They were looking for a cat. These people are very careful, they want to know everything about their favorite cats. They decided to adopt a ginger cat boy. Each of them was seen, including Esesino, whose skin was creamy. After that, they seemed to take him home, until I said, I have another ginger, but he has only three legs.
Guys weren't very excited to see another, because they had almost decided on Esesino, but I told them to come and we'd come back then.
The moment Mandarina was seen through the open door, the deal was done.
First of all, he wasn't afraid of them. A girl fell in love with him at first sight, while a man was surprised. I told them he would walk, run, jump like a normal cat and he showed them what I said. When you do not know what he is missing, all you can say is, he walks a little strange.
I kept the couple there and showed them other patients (they were not interested).
I returned a few minutes later and saw the joy in their eyes.
So?
He's what we want. Absolutely. He is the one!
We couldn't believe this was happening. A three-legged Mandarina, an adult cat. All the negatives of not getting the cat were out of the question. Amazing. Words cannot describe the feeling.
When I asked him if he wanted to leave with these people, his reply was reassuring and firm: Calm closing his eyes. No other meaning than YES!
We were able to complete the necessary steps for Mandarina's adoption, and we let him go to his new home. Since he does not like transport boxes (probably because of his experience in clinic in similar cages), he started crying. On the way to the new house, we knew he would cry, but that was a necessary evil.
We said goodbye with tears of joy and wished him the best of luck for the next decade and a half. It was clear he would remain hidden for a while. We hoped for a day, two, or three, but we can't be sure he won't view this as a treason from our side, and he won't relapse into depression.
One hour later, we received a message with a photo showing Mandarina under the bed in his new home.
We were not surprised because it was expected, so we advised the couple to let him calm down for a day or two and he will leave by himself.
Hope for the best, I was somewhat afraid of the opposite effect, but I prayed for the right course of action.
Another message appeared after fifteen minutes. That made me nervous. What's up, what happened? Are they coming back with him?
He is pictured with his new mother in her arms in a photo.
Absolutely fantastic. The joy I felt was astounding. Finally, he had found the right family.
My thanks go out to a couple, as I returned to my work when a new message arrived. It was a video.
Mandarina was inspecting couples' beds. He obviously knew where he would rest for the rest of his life already.
He truly did! He slept under the sheet with them that night, the woman explained in the morning.
Best wishes to his new family on their journey.
Thank you very much guys!