Moxie’s story was originally shared in the Clear the Shelters Adoption Story Challenge on ShelterChallenge.com. Create your own free Shelter Challenge account and vote for your favorite shelter or rescue group to win cash and prizes. Every time you vote we’ll give an extra donation to shelters!

While the adoption of a once-homeless pet is always special, the journey to that forever home for some of the cats in our care is especially poignant.

Photo: Deborah Felin-Magaldi

And so it was with little Moxie — a tiny kitten with a big problem. At just three weeks old, she was brought into a public shelter and diagnosed by the shelter veterinarian with rectal prolapse. This is a serious condition in which rectal tissue protrudes from the anus. It can cause permanent damage and in a tiny kitten can even result in death.

She underwent a procedure at the shelter to address the condition, but unfortunately it recurred. The shelter determined her best chance at survival would be with a rescue organization, so little Moxie was released to Helen Sanders CatPAWS.

The condition from which Moxie was suffering is often a result of intransigent diarrhea, so that, and the cause of it, had to be determined. She was started on the usual anti-parasitic medication protocol. Then, when that did not resolve the issue, she went through a battery of tests and diagnostics to find and address the underlying cause. In a tiny kitten, persistent diarrhea can quickly become life threatening so through all of this, her diligent foster care providers had to support her body with subcutaneous fluids, syringe feeding, supplements and medication.

Moxie was so small and fragile, yet true to her name with a feisty spirit and will to live. She underwent another surgery to correct the protruding tissue. It was a race against time; resolving the dangerous medical conditions, bolstering her body, helping her stay strong and get bigger, and giving the medication and treatment time to work. Her foster care providers were unrelenting, and Moxie kept fighting.

Photo: Deborah Felin-Magaldi

Finally, after weeks and months of care, she was big and strong enough to be adopted! Her adopters, Cindy and Jim, know just how special she is. As they say, “She is a little fighter and we are so glad CatPaws saved her life so she could become part of ours.” And we are so grateful to them for giving this little warrior the safe and loving home that she fought so hard to live long enough to get.

Story submitted by Deborah Felin-Magaldi.