Birdie’s story

Birdie was found as a stray cat who showed up outside of our CEO’s house, likely dumped. She was extremely skittish and while we couldn’t quite pinpoint what was wrong with her at first, it soon became obvious that her trouble was with her mouth. She would jump and run away from her food even though she was clearly hungry, and would just hide in a bush and cry, not letting anyone touch her. When we scooped her up and took her to the vet, it was found that she had a very severe case of Stomatitis, an inflammatory immune condition in the mouth as a reaction to the teeth, which is excruciating for cats. She had lost so much weight and muscle mass from being too painful to eat, and was extremely matted from not being able to groom. She was terrified of food because she associated it with pain and just seemed so sad and confused.

Regardless of how much pain she was in, she was so happy to be safe and warm and receive pets and attention. We can only imagine how scared she had been outside, all alone, not understanding why she was in so much pain and why she couldn’t eat.

Friends of Bear promptly provided Birdie with the essential surgery to remove all of her teeth (the necessary treatment for Stomatitis) and relieve her of her pain. In the following weeks, through a bit of a rough recovery process and taking time to get her to realize that food wasn’t scary anymore, Birdie was a brand new cat. She loved belly rubs, head-butts, attention, and most of all - food! She gained her weight back and felt comfortable for the first time in a very long time, and made it very clear how grateful she was.

Birdie was adopted in April of 2024 and now lives with her amazing new human mom and kitty brother and is already the princess of her new home. It is so rewarding to help cats like Birdie finally get some relief from their suffering and find the wonderful forever homes they all deserve.