My name is Champ!

There is a perfect cat in everybody’s local community that can match up with their needs and wants if they make an effort to find it. Some people want kittens. Some people want young adults and some people particularly want a senior cat or one with special needs. Champ is one of those cats who is both a senior (13 years old ) and has a special dietary need whose daily needs are actually easy to meet if you are willing. He arrived at the county animal shelter after being surrendered by a family that knew he had a condition known as mega colon. They even took in a bag of his prescription dry food and let staff know that he needed wet food daily. Unfortunately, they took him in when he was scruffy looking and needed a bath and a trim. The shelter itself is not in a position to meet all of those needs and there was no way that he was going to get adopted looking the way he did while he was there. So, we pulled him out of the shelter as soon as we could and got him into a foster home after we first bathed him and cut off all of the knots in his fur. Those likely were due to self neglect because he had not been feeling well up to that point. We did the necessary bloodwork through a local veterinarian to confirm the medical diagnosis and to discuss treatment plans. Because he does not have an advanced case of mega colon, surgery is not required and, given his age, probably not even appropriate. The veterinarian suggested Fortiflora which is a dietary supplement for cats and dogs both, as well as wet food with pumpkin. Both of those are very easy to purchase. Champ weighs about 9 pounds and has lost a lot of muscle mass in his back legs. That may be due to his age, as he has a healthy appetite, and there were no other issues in his bloodwork, surprisingly. However, he is affectionate and will sit next to you on a sofa if he cannot talk you into letting him sleep on your lap. For that rare time when he is not seated next to you or on your lap, you may find him sleeping in any spot he can find in your house, whether it is on a chair next to a window or on the floor where the sun comes pouring in to keep the floor – and him, toasty warm. In his foster home, he is provided with two very large litter pans that he has no trouble getting into and out of at all. The main issue you need to be aware of is that he does throw up frequently. So, you just need to remember to keep tissues or paper towels handy to help clean up the mostly liquid mess when this occurs. He does not have bathroom accidents in the house at all. Given his age, and the fact that he has a health condition at all, there is no way of knowing how many years he might have left of this beautiful life among us. Because of his age and condition, Champ does have to remain an indoor cat. We can provide you with his prescription dry food just to get you started and we can advise you what kinds of cat pate wet food with pumpkin is available to purchase through  chewy.com  to meet his needs. All you need to do is to contact us and let us know that you have an interest in considering him for adoption and we can provide all of the information you need. Try to remember that cats are mostly easy companions. And since this boy no longer plays like a kitten, but does sleep most of the time, he isn’t going to be a lot of trouble. Based on your lifestyle and your own needs, is it possible that Champ could be the “perfect” cat for you? Note: Champ would do best as the only pet in the home due to his dietary needs and old man body. He thinks that he is still a lion, and we are not going to tell him any different!

Megacolon in cats  is a chronic condition characterized by a  stretched-out, weakened colon , 

neutered, vaccinated, dewormed microchipped and flea treated before adoption.  if you would like to fill out the adoption application please visit www.hart rescue.weebly.com  filling out the application does not commit you to adoption it simply makes the approval process quicker.