The original plan with candy was to find a rescue centre with a no-euthanasia policy, such as the Animal Welfare League who could take her. Unfortunately, every rescue centre we came across was full and then some at the time and we could not guarantee her safety from euthanasia. Before going to the rescue orgs, we took her to the vet for a check up. Unfortunately, it was found that she had a very bad case of ear mites (a very painful condition for such a little one), worms and fleas. So plan B was to nurse this little ball of white fluff back to health, then have her microchipped and desexed before selling her responsibly for a price that would recover the costs of microchipping, desexing and her medications.
Since we already had a foster cat at the time (Simba - our first adult), Candy being sick and so small, had to be housed in what we call the "bird cage". (This is not nearly as small as it sounds. We use the bird cage as an outlet for our cats to get some time outside, while still being enclosed. It was especially useful in the townhouse we used to live in, which had very few windows, all of which looked onto the driveway rather than the garden outside - not too interesting a view for a cat.) This, plus the fact she had been coping all by herself on the mean streets, meant she needed lots of people time, cuddles and of course massaging and cleaning of ears as we drowned those nasty mites into submission. With one last spot left in the household (Ipswich City Council regulations are that you can have 2 cats, or 4 with special permission which we had), it wasn't too long before Plan B was out the window, and Plan C came into effect which was to keep her as part of our family.
And it's on this day, Candy's unofficial first birthday that we are so very glad we did. (Jinx has a different opinion, but we are glad) We are so happy to have such a gorgeous, healthy, white fluffy girl who still loves her cuddles and ear massages and we look forward to many more years with her.
