At ORA we are all volunteers, and my partner and I are full time real estate agents. Last year, on a cold day in February we were carefully making our way through a pack of snow towards the entrance of a house that we were going to show. Suddenly we heard a loud and repetitive “Meow, Meow”. Someone was demanding our attention. I looked around just in time to see a skinny red tabby cat placing herself in front of my partner’s feet almost to block her way. Before I could have a clear picture of the cat, I heard my partner say, “What has happened to you, oh, you poor thing?” The cat was blind on the left eye and pus and blood were leaking out of it. Her right ear had a large growth the size of a walnut with coagulated blood. It was obvious that the cat was in pain and she was literally asking for help. While one of us rushed through showing the house the other knocked at a neighbors’ door to get a box to transport the cat to the vet. We then explained to our clients the emergency of the situation; not being animal lovers they didn’t see what all the fuss was about. The cat needed immediate attention. She showed very little resistance when she was scooped up and put into the box. It was Saturday and the emergency vet clinic was quite far away. In the car, the cat was very quiet enjoying the warmth of a heated place, a luxury that probably she had never known before.

The veterinarian confirmed what we already knew, the cat needed to have the growth removed and nothing more could be done that day. We took her home and disinfected and cleaned up a bit around the growth in her ear. She gave some opposition however all was forgiven when she was given something to eat and she demonstrated a very healthy appetite. We confined her to a cage so as not to expose the other cats, as we did not know if she was affected by some transmittable disease. She settled herself in the cage very comfortably, sleeping deeply and waking up only to empty her dish . Obviously she had not had sufficient food for a long time.

The following Monday we took her to our ordinary vet where she was operated upon. The growth was benign. The bad news was that the growth was an inflammatory polyp that would re-occur. She had to undergo a long period of antibiotic treatment to clear the infection to the left eye, and also a second operation. We then decided to treat her homeopathically. We spent over $1,000 on her and it is not finished. She is one of our “unadoptable cats” since she needs constant care and medical attention. We called her “Princess Diana”, because all cats are beautiful.Princess Diana passed away in 2015 at the age of 15. She was a special cat that was truly happy to be alive and every day that she was with us she reminded all the volunteers of the value of their work.