So now I can tell you with real names!
Many of you have read about "Baby" and "Sue" here, here, and here.
Their story was picked up by Vetstreet and I want to share it with you as well as their real names.
Please meet Joan and Isis!
Sixty-five-year-old Joan Price of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has only a few months to live. Price, who contracted hepatitis through a blood transfusion 40 years ago, suffers from cirrhosis of the liver. She is bedridden and cannot stand or walk without assistance. In November, after an unplanned hospital stay, Price checked into a hospice facility.
She has made her peace with her failing health, but she went to the hospice with one lingering concern: She had no one to care for her beloved cat, Isis.
It looked as though Price's last days would be filled with worry about Isis' future — until the kindness of a stranger and a cat-loving Facebook community granted her final wish.
Looking for a Home
“I was so worried. I cried every night,” Price says of those first days away from her cat. “I don’t care about myself. I’m ready. But I care about making sure Isis will be OK.”
Price had taken Isis in after the cat, who had been living outside, gave birth to a litter of kittens. Price had the cat spayed and the two have been together ever since. Even as Price's health failed, her concern was for her cat: Although she knew she would not be returning from the hospice, Price continued paying her rent in order to ensure that Isis had a safe place to live. The building's maintenance manager cared for Isis, making sure she was fed and had a clean litterbox. But otherwise, the cat was alone.
With no local family and few friends, Price wasn't sure where to turn for help. From her bed in the hospice, she contacted rescue groups to ask for help finding Isis a new home. And that’s when Price's luck changed: One organization forwarded Price’s plea to blogger Dorian Wagner, an area woman who often helped local rescues find homes for cats.
Please click on the link to see their picture, it will warm your heart!
Also, check out their Facebook page! Please feel free to join their group if you would like to do so. If you want to send Joan a card, Dorian's address is available there. She takes the cards to Joan when they arrive.
Also, many more pictures are on the FB page, pictures of Joan with Isis, her walls covered with cards, group members' cats, all kinds of great shots. I hope you take a look!
The latest news is that some online friends of Joan's read her story, not knowing what had happened to her, and are getting involved and going to visit.
Although this is a sad story in a major way it is also a happy one. Joan is happy and Isis is safe and will continue to be safe in her new home.
Happy Holidays!