Shambles’ story
In July of 2023, Friends of Bear founder, Haley, was driving down a busy street when something off to the side of the road caught her eye. She did a double take and saw a little orange cat butt sticking out of a huge pile of trash.
Of course, she did a U-turn and went right back to that trash pile, where she confirmed what she had thought she’d seen. The cat was still half in a trash bag, weakly rummaging around for something to eat. Based on the bony, dirty, unkempt look of his body, Haley clocked that this was likely an old cat who had been living on the street for quite some time. He didn’t even turn around or stop rummaging through the trash when she got a bit closer, which made her concerned that something wasn’t right. It wasn’t until she cracked open a can of wet cat food that the cat lifted his head from the trash bag, turned around to look at her, and immediately started coming toward the food with the most heartbreaking cry.
It was at that point, when she got the first look at his face, that Haley realized this wasn’t an old crotchety cat - this was a young, malnourished, very very sick cat. Her heart dropped upon taking in the sight of him as he got closer. He was filthy, all of his bones were visible, his face was sunken in and there was no light in his eyes. He struggled to walk toward her and she noticed his paws were wounded and caked with infection. He was infested with fleas and his fur was thick with oil and dirt. Here in the middle of the trash pile, flies surrounded him and were already eating at him, as if he was already dead. With a lump in her throat, Haley knew that she wasn’t letting this cat die out here, alone and starving. Given his condition, she knew that he might not make it even with her efforts and humane euthanasia might be the only way to relieve his suffering. But she knew she had to try.
While the cat did take some food, he wouldn’t let Haley touch him, and got spooked and slunk off to hide in a cardboard box in the midst of the trash when she tried to get him in a carrier. It took 24 hours of trying different methods to trap the cat, but eventually, he was safe in Haley’s garage and was off to the vet the next morning. As she spent time with him that night in the garage, showing him that pets feel nice and humans aren’t that scary, she named him Shambles - inspired by his current janky state.
At the vet, the news was scary. Shambles was severely anemic, dehydrated, and his kidneys were failing. The skin of his paw pads were sloughing off, raw with infection and inflammation, likely from chemical burns. His condition was horrific and heartbreaking, and his prognosis was grave. But Haley knew she had to give this cat a chance to live. A chance to experience a life in which he wasn’t suffering. A chance to live in a world that cared about him. A chance to know what love and comfort feels like.
Thus began the journey of medications, treatments, hand-feeding, lots of crying, and LOTS of love. During his few months at Friends of Bear, Shambles became a whole new cat. While his kidney issues unfortunately turned out to be chronic, he was just happy to not be slowly dying in a trash pile anymore. He became a happy, playful, silly, loving young cat. His eyes were bright and full of hope as he simply felt good for the first time in his life.
Shambles was adopted out to an amazing home in October of 2023 where he enjoys being a normal, happy housecat, just like he’s always deserved. He has a brother (also a former Friends of Bear cat - Beefaroni!) who he loves, and spends his days reigning over his human’s lap and getting into typical orange cat mischief.
After finding Shambles literally on death’s doorstep, we couldn’t be happier with his journey which led to him finally experiencing a life without suffering. His story truly encapsulates everything Friends of Bear stands for and we hope to help so many more cats like him in the future.