EDITOR:
The letter March 26 from DAWG regarding the special needs dog touched my heart. In our household, we can wholeheartedly recommend homing special needs animals.
Nearly two years ago after losing our female cat to lymphoma a friend gave me information on a young silver Bengal that was a special needs kitty. She knew we are partial to Bengals as Kobe, our male, is the second one we've acquired (one does not own a cat). These are very interesting and loving cats and he was missing his mate of several years. We went to visit this kitten and while her condition of congenital hypoplasia didn't worry me as much as her size (she was only just over 5 pounds while Kobe is 18 pounds) we brought her home with us. Kobe is a very playful cat so my main worry was that this kitten couldn't keep up with him or he could get too rough.
That definitely turned out to be a non-factor. The initial introduction was handled quite well by Misty (the new gal) when she took a first look at Kobe and let out a huge hiss which sent the big guy running. He was very careful in getting too close to her for a while which worked out well. Misty also quickly learned where all the small places to hide were; she can duck into those and the big guy won't fit.
Misty was the name I gave the new kitten but after watching summer Olympics beach volleyball, I made it Misty May as this little gal has no problem with high jumps. While her walking and moving slow is often awkward looking, when she runs, if I can't see her I'm not always sure which cat it is. She is now a little over 6 pounds but sounds every bit as loud running down the hallway as Kobe does. Due to her condition, she'll never get fat even though she eats quite heartedly. Although appearing timid at times, she tries to do everything the big guy does without hesitation. A few friends have shown sympathy when first seeing her, but after seeing Misty in action, they quickly change their minds.
I sincerely hope that someone out there sees the love and affection they can have by visiting DAWG and meeting Happy. It could change their lives. Good luck, Happy.
Judy DeRyke
Minden
