A blind, special needs kitten was left ‘so confused’ after she was dumped back at the shelter just months after she was adopted.
The gray and white kitten – then named Elena by staff at the Greenville Humane Society in South Carolina – was adopted in January at just three months old.
But in late July, staff members found the kitten in a box at the shelter – with no explanation, the Greenville Humane Society posted on Facebook Monday.
They were left heartbroken as they recognized the cat.
‘We don’t know why she was brought back to us. Why she was left,’ the shelter wrote. ‘She was so confused. She didn’t know where she was.’
The shelter said staff first met Elena when she was just three months old.
She was the runt of the litter, and vets determined she was completely blind.
‘It can be scary enough being in a big shelter when you’re still so tiny, but her lack of vision only makes it that much more terrifying for a young kitten,’ the shelter wrote at the time.
‘Her unfamiliarity of her current surroundings paired with her blindness has made her miserable – she’s always in fight or flight mode. She hisses when she hears a noise. She doesn’t want to be pet. She’s just so, so scared.’
But shortly after posting about the kitten, the Greenville Humane Society announced she was adopted.
‘We were so happy for her,’ the shelter wrote in its post Monday.
After returning to the shelter, vets have discovered that the kitten is suffering from hydrocephalus – a rare birth defect that causes increased fluid in the brain.
It can cause cats to appear constantly wobbly, and unable to control their gait, according to the National Kitten Coalition.
‘She couldn’t catch a break, and it broke our hearts to see her so confused and wondering what was next,’ the shelter wrote.
But she has grown stronger, learning her way around the shelter and bonding with other felines.
As a result, the Greenville Humane Society said it ‘renamed her Mabel, because she’s no longer that scared, blind baby we used to know.’
It said it is now looking for Mabel’s forever home. ‘One that will commit to caring for her for life. Not just temporarily. But forever.’
The shelter has since renamed the kitten Mabel, noting that she is no longer the ‘scared, blind baby we used to know’
The shelter noted that Mabel will require daily medication for the hydrocephalus, which she will need for the rest of her life.
The medication costs $25 each month, but the humane society insists Mabel ‘is completely worth it.
‘She has so much love to give, and she deserves to find a family that will give her love in return.’
Facebook user Julia Price later commented on the post that she had met Mabel at the shelter and the kitten ‘stole my heart.
‘She seemed a little nervous with all the activity (it was busy!), yet cautiously checked out and accepted pets from everyone who came in and out,’ Price wrote, sharing a photo of Mabel asleep in her arms.
‘Eventually, she decided I was trustworthy and curled up in my lap to nap for nearly an hour. I only left because it was closing time!’
Price added that she could not adopt Mabel ‘because my current foster situation isn’t suitable for her.’
Fortunately, another family has since adopted the sweet kitten, the shelter wrote in an update – as they assured the public they will never let the people who adopted her in the first place get another pet from them.