DAISY MAE THEN...

This is the picture the shelter took of a sad grey little Persian later named Daisy Mae.

A foster mom, moved by Daisy's sad photo, drove up to Eureka to get her from the shelter. This picture shows her in her new home in Santa Cruz. At her first vet exam the vet said she was more likely 8 yrs old than the 14 the shelter had guessed. An under-anesthesia dematting session was planned but first she had to gain some weight and strength and get over her diarrhea. Waiting 'til she was ready was so hard because she was completely matted with hard felt mats everywhere.

Finally the day came. She was still so weak that being under anesthesia was dangerous for her. The vet and her assistant worked under pressure to be quick but it was slow going because she was so thin and the mats were so tight. It took over 1 1/2 hours of very tense work.

The large lightish thing in the vet's hand is the mat that came off her back . It was 2 inches thick and the size of a dinner plate. Surprisingly, her skin underneath was in quite good shape with no sores or parasites. Just a little of what looked like green algae.

These pictures show her just after she was shaved. Very tiny. You can see in the picture of her with the comb that her hind legs splay out to the sides. She didn't have the strength in her hind legs to hold them under her body. She probably lived her whole life in the dog crate she was surrendered in. She never had the space to jump so she needed no jumping muscles. The mats on her legs both prevented movement and held her up. Without her fur she was tiny, 3 1/2 pounds. She was affectionately renamed PinHead.

She excelled at eating and ate and ate 'til she was 6 whole pounds.

and DAISY MAE NOW...

To help build up her hind legs her foster mom set up her own step aerobic system with an inverted litter box. Ultimately, her foster mom would put dry food treats on the shelf above and Daisy Mae had to stretch to her tippy toes to reach them. Look how strong her hind legs have become.

As she grew in strength her agoraphobia lessened, though it was a long time 'til she really wanted to see a world the huge size of a whole room. Ultimately, to her foster mom's great pleasure, she finally learned to look forward to being petted rather than just tolerating it. She started to incline her head and rub back. Soon she was ready for her new adopter's home and a whole new life.