In Memory of Zoe

What we do is really really hard. We take feral cats who are unloved and uncared for, and we love them with our whole hearts. We make them a part of our family and love them as if they are a part of our family in an effort to teach them how to have a positive relationship with humans. We love what we do, and when one of our previously feral cats gets chosen by a family all their own, we are ecstatic, and while it is slightly bittersweet because we will miss them, we are excited for the happy life they will get to live.

Yesterday we had a tragedy in our feral family. Sweet Zoe, around a year and a half old, had a rare congenital defect in her heart. Zoe had a severe aortic stenosis. Even though she is so young, her heart has been working extra hard due to her aortic valve being the size of a pencil lead rather than the size of a dime, as it should have been. When the veterinary hospital removed her intubation after her spay surgery, she coded. They were able to bring her back temporarily with medication, and they used ultrasound to look at her heart and confirm that it was severe aortic stenosis that caused her to code once the tube was removed. Zoe will be cremated, and we will bring her ashes back to be buried in our future From Feral to Family cemetery when the ground is soft enough.

Zoe was a wonderful part of our feral family, and her absence has been incredibly painful. To know that she will not be living out a long, joyful life full of love is painful. We miss her and the future she deserved to have. Zoe will stay in our hearts forever.