Lady in a Fur Coat was found as a stray near Madison, Wisconsin, in early December and quickly brought to Dane County Humane Society. As soon as she arrived, everyone at the shelter could see that she was in pain, and immediately began trying to figure out how to help her.
“Our veterinarians gave her a thorough exam and determined that she was suffering from chronic ear infections and hematomas in both ears,” Ash Collins, donor relations specialist at Dane County Humane Society, told The Dodo.
Due to the pain she was in, it was decided that the best thing to do would be to remove Lady’s ear flaps. While she recovered from her surgery, she stayed at the veterinarian’s office, getting attention and love around the clock. As her pain went away and she began to hear a little better, the sweet cat came out of her shell more and more each day, and once she was back at the shelter, everyone there fell head over heels for the earless cat, too.
“Lady is such a sweet cat,” Collins said. “She loves to cuddle and give head bumps, and our staff and volunteers really enjoyed spending time with her while she recovered.”
Once Lady fully healed and was ready to find her forever family, her new shelter friends were a little worried that her lack of ears would scare away potential adopters. Lady is still so cute even without her ears, of course, but as Collins wondered if other people would see that, she suddenly had the sweetest idea.
“We worried that her adoption process may take longer since she looked a little funny, so I decided to use my crochet skills to help her stand out with an adorable purple ear bonnet,” Collins said.
As soon as Lady’s new ears were ready, Collins gently placed them on her head and snapped a few pictures, and the reactions they got from the rest of the world were absolutely perfect.
“Our staff and volunteers thought she was so adorable in her new ears, and we have had lots of positive reactions from our supporters as well,” Collins said. “Lady was adopted the same day she was made available for adoption, thanks to her picture on Facebook with her crocheted ears!”
Lady was just so cute in her photos, with and without her new ears, that someone applied to adopt her right away, and she’s now happily settled into her new forever home. She’s already doing so well, and everyone is thrilled that the quirky cat got her very well-deserved happy ending.
“I was happy to be a small part of Lady’s second chance,” Collins said.
