Sookie

In March of 2023, we received a frantic call for help from a longtime friend of our rescue regarding a precious little girl found curled up tightly in a ball. Protecting herself as best she could with what little energy she had left, Sookie's eyes were crusted shut with puss from a raging infection. Sookie needed urgent help – so, after hearing the plea made on behalf of a starving, broken-down, dejected girl, we felt immediately that we were meant to help her. 

By the time she arrived Sookie was severely malnourished and dehydrated, with the entirety of her body crusty and hard. Her stomach was swollen full of parasites, and she was riddled with fleas and ticks that caused her skin to become raw and irritated. Her entire face was caked in pus, blood, and dead skin. Sookie was dealing with a horrible Upper Respiratory Infection (URI), as well as eye infections in BOTH eyes. Sookie's infection had gone on for so long that it was significantly impacting her breathing.

Sookie broke our hearts that day, but we also knew that this was the beginning of a brand new chapter for our precious girl. However, we knew that Sookie had a long road to recovery ahead of her. We were determined to give Sookie the life that she deserved, especially after she had worked so hard to survive, but it was imperative that we first help Sookie to recover. We began Sookie on a course of treatment to clear her infections, and hoped we would be ale to fully restore Sookie's vision.

Unfortunately, things did not work out quite as we wanted. Sookie's infections did clear, which was an incredibly improvement for our girl. However, the damage to Sookie's eyes was so extensive that she sustained permanent vision loss. Sweet Sookie's eyes would not ever be repaired. While we were devastated by this change in course, we knew that there was still a path to happiness ahead for Sookie, so we began to make preparations for the surgery to remove her eyes.

Sookie needed to first gain some weight as she was quite thin after being so sick for so long. We managed Sookie's pain with medication, but we knew she was still so uncomfortable. Sookie would not know a moment of true relief until both of her ruptured eyes were out of her head. Sookie underwent her procedure in early May of 2023, and the operation was a success. Sookie's vision was already long-gone, so it wasn't much of an adjustment, but we wanted to make sure she was comfortable during her recovery.

Sookie returned to the vet regularly over the following month for various check-ins to ensure she was healing well. In the first week of June, the moment we had been waiting for finally came to pass. Sookie was adopted! Sookie's new family includes a one-eyed cat and a sweet dog who have both helped Sookie adjust to her new environment. Sookie is showered with love and affection by her new mom, and we could not be happier for this sweet little cat.