Cats with special needs are among the hardest animals in shelters to find forever homes, despite the abundance of rewards they can bring to a household.
While it can seem like a daunting task to take care of an animal who needs extra care - especially when you have the option to adopt a "regular" pet - owners of special needs cats wouldn't trade their experience for the world.
A PetFinder shelter outreach coordinator named Sharon admittedly was scared at first when she adopted a black cat named Homer. Not only was it hard to find an adoptive family for Homer because of his color, but he also has Anophthalmia (which means he was born without eyes).
"I thought that having Homer in the house would be challenging and I would always have to be afraid of him harming himself," Sharon said of adopting Homer. "To the contrary, he is very independent and gets around with no problems whatsoever. He has incredible hearing and will come running if I rub my fingers together from the next room. Adopting him really made me appreciate how amazingly animals adapt to obstacles in life."
Similarly, another cat owner who has two felines with one eye each started an Instagram page to show how rewarding it can be to raise a special needs cat.
Instagram user "twocatstwoeyes" describes their page as "Two Cats One Litterbox. We are two special needs cats, and each of us is missing an eye. We want to show the world special needs cats are awesome too!"
The page shows how silly and loving these two cats can be despite their disability. The user posts pictures of the cats playing, laughing, eating and even wearing a Santa Claus hat during the holidays.
One post even describes one cat, Jovie, as "a happy, healthy cat; who doesn't even realize she is missing an eye."
To raise awareness for special needs cats, the Cat Support Network has a page dedicated to these special felines. The page features animals in need including Monkie, a 7-year-old cat who is FIV positive; Paxton, a 3-year-old cat who is also FIV positive; Twilight, a 5 1/2-month-old cat who suffered a stroke; and Johnny, a 1-year-old with a brain injury due to severe hyperthermia.
"To some people, these animals are not adoptable," the Cat Support Network wrote on their site. "In fact, in some cases, if these cats and kittens weren't in the care of Cat Support Network they would be destroyed. Cat Support Network believes that these cats deserve loving homes. They are worthy of being saved and entitled to live out the rest of their lives surrounded by people that will love and care for them."
