Written by Julia Travis (PlumPets Social Media)
Professional photography by Nat Gold ZA
BISCUIT’S RESCUE
A security guard at a local child welfare came across Biscuit, a stray cat who’d been wandering around the area. This kind man started feeding Biscuit on a daily basis and she soon formed a special bond with him. For two months Biscuit would walk with Nazeem whilst he performed his night patrol around the premises.
Nazeem was concerned about Biscuit as he noticed that something wasn’t quite right with her eyes. He even witnessed her almost being hit by a car. A lady who worked in the area wanted to call the SPCA to take Biscuit away, so he reached out to an organisation for assistance; they in turn reached out to PlumPets Animal Shelter. Luckily, we were able to assist.
After Biscuit had been examined by our vet, she was referred to the eye specialist. On examination, the specialist confirmed that Biscuit had no eyelids. Her absent eyelids meant it was difficult for her to keep that space open for her seeing eyes to look out and her hair was scratching her eyes and causing great discomfort and irritation. The surgery to correct this rare congenital condition was very expensive and PlumPets didn’t have the funds to pay for it. Miraculously, a donation came through the day before the scheduled surgery, so the initial payment could be made and Biscuit underwent her surgery. The procedure lasted three hours and went very well. A skin graft was taken from Biscuit’s lips in order to create eyelids for her.
Biscuit was lucky enough to go into foster with Sarah Bouwer a few months after her surgery. This was the best environment for her to heal and she made an amazing recovery. Biscuit had to be an indoor cat due to her white nose and sensitive eyes, and we started advertising for a home, but no one came forward and she remained in foster.
Sarah then realised that the search for a home was no longer necessary as Biscuit was already home…
Biscuit has been adopted by her foster Mom, Sarah, and her feline brother, Tchaiky (short for Tchaikovsky). She went into foster after her eyelid reconstruction surgery, and in the end there was no parting with her.
Thank you to Sarah and Tchaiky for making Biscuit part of their family. We’re happy to share that Biscuit’s surgery was a success and she doesn’t require any further procedures at this time.
BISCUIT’S ADOPTION
Written by Sarah Bouwer
The story of how I adopted Biscuit is one that all my friends and family predicted from the moment I told them I was going to be a foster mom. I first met Biscuit after my neighbour (and now best friend) came to me with the idea of fostering. About two weeks later, I came home with Biscuit. I was determined to be the halfway point between her and her forever home.
Cats are a lot smarter than humans. She knew I was her forever home. All she had to do was make me fall head over heels in love with her, which was extremely easy on her part. She started by coming to sit with me every day while I studied for varsity. Then she was wherever I was, even if that was in the shower. Unlike her arrogant and noisy new foster brother, she was always quietly content to be in my presence. He wasn’t impressed by her presence, polite as it was, but she wore him down eventually.
There was really no chance of me being a halfway home. She just fit so perfectly into our family. Her gentle nature complements the chaos of my other cat, and while he’s out chasing animals and wreaking havoc, she keeps me company. While he’s screaming at me for food in the mornings, she will quietly come up to me and boop me on the nose to let me know she’d like to eat. At first she wasn’t keen on physical affection, but now there’s no saying no to her when she wants attention and she’ll knock the phone right out of my hand.
Even though she can’t go outside and hunt with her brother, she makes sure to announce her exemplary catch of her small toy mouse during her evening zoomies, and that’s enough to make my heart melt. Her favourite thing in the whole world, other than her mouse, is to sit and bask in the sun. I call her “my ray of sunshine”, because if there’s any patch of sun in the room she’ll plonk there and only move when the sun does. My ray of sunshine is so perfectly content to be a part of my small family, and she completes it perfectly.
