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 MEET
SOME OF OUR PATIENTS: “Denzel"
We've recently welcomed a new patient to the clinic, all the
way from Greece! The dashing ‘Denzel’ (the black cat in the
background of the picture) was rescued as a kitten from a life
of misery on the mean streets of Athens along with his friend
Psipsina (foreground) by the cat charity Friends of the Cat.
Unfortunately both cats had already fallen victim to ‘street
life’.
Psipsina was found blind from suspected abuse and was temporarily
paralysed due to an abscess on her spine and Denzel has brain
damage although this appears to be a condition known as cerebellar
hypoplasia and doesn’t seem to cause him too many problems.
Apart from getting the ‘wobbles’ and falling over occasionally
he now lives a perfectly normal life and apparently even ‘rules
the roost’ at home. Denzel’s owner already had cats of her own
but Denzel (who has only been over here a few weeks) has decided
that he is boss cat and is now asserting his authority on a
regular basis!
Both cats travelled to the UK on the Pet Travel Scheme, so
after blood tests, vaccinations, worming and flea treatment,
not to mention microchipping, their journey took no longer than
a day in all (beats 6 months in quarantine, although they’re
probably still getting over the shock of our somewhat cooler
climate!)
Their lucky break came when Psipsina’s new owner, Alison, was
on holiday in Greece and decided to pop in on an old friend
from Edinburgh who was working for the Athens based cat charity.
Alison is a cat fanatic and is well known to the clinic as a
full-time professional catsitter, the owner of the Catsitters
organisation. At the time she visited, Denzel and Psipsina were
being nursed back to health by the staff and their plight obviously
tugged at the heart strings as this holidaymaker vowed to give
the pair a better life. Both cats are now thriving in their
new homes – a million miles away from their life on the streets.
Denzel was promptly brought to the clinic for his health check
and booster vaccinations and quickly charmed all the staff with
his exotic good looks and quirky personality, though I’m not
too sure that his new flatmates share our admiration!
Denzel and Psipsina are two of the lucky ones. Large colonies
of cats live in the park where they were found and many of them
are not so fortunate. The Friends of the Cat charity feeds and
cares for hundreds of these cats every year, but they are desperately
under-resourced and rely on voluntary help. Anyone who would
like to help or make donations is asked to write to Friends
of the Cat,15a Amassias Street, 11635 Pangrati, Athens, Greece.
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