Paul Russell had a serious surprise in store for him. From Pennsylvania, he was worried about a distant relative of his. This relative was going through a difficult time, and Paul wanted to help somehow.
Making A Decision
At the age of 82, the distant relative of Paul Russell had just moved home from his house in Pennsylvania. The man lived on his own till he could not take care of himself with a mysterious disease.
Making A Decision
Left Behind
His family moved him to a nursing home closer to them so that they could keep an eye on him. While this was the best option for the man, his family didn’t know very much about him, taking him out would lead to a strange series of events.
Left Behind
Entering The House
Undoubtedly, no pets were allowed at the nursing home. Unfortunately, this implied that Siam was left behind, the man’s beloved 17-year-old Siamese cat. Paul saw this opportunity to help. Paul and his spouse, self-described animal lovers, had a few pets.
Entering The House
Derelict
But Paul soon discovered, Siam wasn’t the only “animal” in that room. Paul walked up, opened the front door, then flicked on and off the light switch. Nothing’s there. He’d have to go into the cellar and locate the breaker, but first of all, he had to get something.
Derelict
A Creeping Feeling
He returned to his car, grabbing his emergency flashlight. But he almost dropped it when he placed the spotlight within the hallway. It reached him with a smell first, and Paul stumbling, lost the vision in the hallway; the whole house was filled with garbage from floor to ceiling.
A Creeping Feeling
Scratches
The windows were darkened, and, strangely the walls had odd marks. Paul could not shake the sensation that he was being watched as he moved slowly through the room. He was trying to end his thoughts on mice, snakes, and worse.
Scratches
Hiding In The Dark
He had goosebumps as he shone the beam of the flashlight on the walls. Who, or what, did this? Where was Siam? Paul examined the markings on the walls and found that the wallpaper had been gouged.
Hiding In The Dark
Frozen
With his heart in his throat, he walked down the hallway. He called quietly, “Kitty, kitty.” Suddenly he felt strange, and all his emotions immediately shouted at him to run away. But before he gets out, he had to find Siam as soon as he could.
Frozen
Hiding Out
To find Siam’s food bowl, Paul walked into the kitchen. He filled it with cat food that he brought with him, but Siam didn’t come surprisingly. His heart dropped after a couple of minutes, shouting his name.
Hiding Out
Not Alone
Paul would never find him in the dark if he were hiding–there are too many places. He realized that he would have to go down to the basement to turn the switch. Yet he heard a sound that shocked him to the core even before he had entered a darkened stairway.
Not Alone
A Huge Creature
A loud, piercing cry filled the room, and Paul froze through the house. Then he listened to a thump, but the noise was coming out of another room this time, the bathroom ending up in the hall. He cautiously approached the door and was prepared to move his legs.
A Huge Creature
Going Back In
With his foot, he kicked open the door and pulled back the curtain of the shower. There was Siam — camped in the stall bathroom that ease him. The cat was scared and starving. Who knows when he had a decent meal over the last period.
Going Back In
Trapped
Paul began to think about Siam; then, he heard a different sound from the darkness, that brought the cold of his blood. Paul heard a faint grumbling, resounding in the whole hall from the room. But if the cat was with him here, then who made that sound?
Trapped
At The Vet
He reassured himself at first that it was probably only a frightened raccoon that entered the abandoned house — so it explained why Siam was stuck in the bath, right? He slid across the door and had a look he will never forget.
At The Vet
A Cat
Though most of us could have taken Siam to run, Paul had the best of him unexpectedly. “I started searching around, and suddenly this huge creature darts out from under the bed and runs down to the cellar, and I thought, ‘What was that?’”
A Cat
Hidey
Frightened, Paul ran out of the house. Before he went back to the cellar, he would have to gather every ounce of bravery he had. So, with his partner, Jill, by his side, they went back to the house. Paul was ready this time.
Hidey
Barbershop
They slowly moved down the stairs, armed with a trap then flashlights. “The next day, I went into the creepy old cellar… I’m down there with a flashlight looking— it was almost like a horror movie. Then I found it hunkering in the corner…” Paul recollects.
Barbershop
Makeover
The creature was cornered and pulled into the pit. Jill stood back, bewildered. When he said the creature looked dusty and seemed to have several legs, she did not believe her husband, but she saw it for herself now.
Makeover
New Family
What did they find? They rushed the alien-looking creature to the veterinarian in the hope of some answers. Paul and Jill were trembling at the vet. What could this creature be? Paul suggested that it might be a wild animal he hadn’t heard of — or a common animal that seemed to have a blanket over it.
New Family
Monster Under The Bed
Never before have the vets seen anything like this. Then the strange creature turned around. What they found was a loss of words for everyone. When they turned the animal over, they saw the head— protruding from the many odd “tentacles” that covered its body.
Monster Under The Bed
Working Slowly
They slowly started cutting off the mass after putting the animal under general anesthesia. “Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body, and, needless to say, she’s feeling so much better now!” Read the Facebook post of the shelter. What animal was it?
Working Slowly
Responsibility
It struck them, then. What animal were they looking at? What caused it to turn beyond recognition? The vets agreed that the only appropriate option, following a series of arguments about the next move, is to give the creature anesthesia to remove all the fur safely.
Responsibility
Looking Out For Each Other
Thanks to its propensity for hiding, the animal, who was aptly called Hidey, was caught under pounds of matt fur. Unfortunately, for a very, very long time, its 82-year-old owner had forgotten Hidey completely.
Looking Out For Each Other
Adjusting
“Hidey was overweight, so that makes it harder for [cats] to groom themselves, and that’s when you see matting happen,” Western PA Humane Society Senior Marketing Communications Manager Caitlin Lasky informed. So it was a cat that they found!
Adjusting
A Happy Ending
But how can the cat’s’ dreadlocks’ get extracted safely? Hidey’s presence impressed the veterinary team.“They hadn’t seen anything like that,” Caitlin Lasky, senior marketing communications manager for Western PA Humane Society, retorted.
A Happy Ending
A Unique Case
“Even looking online, I had a hard time finding anything similar, so it’s a unique case.” In that case, there is the only way to save a cat: you need to shave everything off. But the squad was unable to make errors.
A Unique Case
Two Pounds
The fur was weighing up to two pounds! “Lots of furs. It had to be years of matting for it to get that long.” Hidey turned out to be not only the fattest but also one of the hairiest cat in history. Hidey had an even greater difficulty: she didn’t have a place to call home.
Two Pounds
Forever Home
Fortunately, Paul and his wife decided to take both Hidey and Siam in after Hidey had been released from the vet hospital. The two cats have a forever home now with the Russels, and the two other cats and two dogs have instant siblings.
Forever Home
Transitioning
It takes more time for Hidey to see who she is, but without overgrown fur, she gradually transitions to life. Maybe she still doesn’t know it, but she has a chance to live a happy and healthy life! But can Hidey ever again trust people?
Transitioning
Take Time
It will take some time for her to settle down after years of neglect. “She’s been hiding under the bed for the last few days,” Russell said. “I’ve been dragging her out and holding her, and she’s starting to purr a lot.”
Take Time
Little By Little
“For the last couple of days, she’s climbed from under the bed on her own, and I’ve got a cat’s bed. So she’s starting to work her way to see more people.” “The companionship of a pet will offer many positive benefits to the elderly, but it is a great responsibility to own a pet,” said Dan Rossi, CEO of the Animal Rescue League Shelter and the Western PA Humane Society.
Little By Little
Guidance
He also has a warning as well as some clear guidance on what to do in this situation. “If a family member, friend, or neighbor owns a pet, please help them ensure that there is a support system in place if / when mental faculties begin to decline,” Dan pleads.
Guidance
Open Door Shelters
“Also, open door shelters such as the Animal Rescue League Shelter and the Western PA Humane Society do not turn any animal away unless there are other choices for the pet.” It’s going to take more time to see who Hidey is, but she’s gradually adjusting to life without pounds of overgrown fur and starting to come out of her shell.
Open Door Shelters
Run The House
“Other than being standoff, in which you are keeping her, and she’s going to purr,” Russell continues. But Jill feels there’s a lot more in store for Hidey in 2018. “She’s going to run the house in six months,” Jill says.
Run The House
A Little Trimmer
“And now she’s going to be a little trimmer.” Thank goodness someone had finally realized that Hidey was struggling under all those pounds of fur and had taken care of her professionally. Let’s hope this story helps prevent more cases of unintended animal abuse among the elderly.
A Little Trimmer
Another One
As it turns out, Hidey isn’t the only cat that went through this kind of ordeal. In fact, another cat named Sinbad had a similar story. It was rescued in Chicago from his elderly owner who wasn’t able to care for him.
Another One
Neglected For A While
It seemed like the cat was neglected for quite some time. He had severely matted fur. Luckily, the rescuers showed up and Sinbad’s owner agreed that the cat would be better off somewhere else. That was when the society members began planning what to do.
Neglected For A While
Keeping Calm
The workers thought about how they could keep the poor cat calm while they worked on shaving all the matted fur he was stuck under. It was lucky that Sinbad was cooperative and went along with the rescuers.
Keeping Calm
Realizing
Once Sinbad realized what was really going on, he seemed to give himself over to the process of getting cleaned up. Slowly but surely, the sweet little cat emerged from beneath the tangled and matted mess.
Realizing
Two Sittings
It ended up taking the rescuers two sittings in total to shave all of Sinbad’s excess fur. Each of those sittings took around two hours and had him sedated. When the task was complete at last, the rescuers had taken off an incredible five pounds of fur.
Two Sittings
Unrecognizable
When they were done removing all his excess fur, Sinbad was far from recognizable. He had lost five pounds of fur after all. Due to the fact that his little body was so sensitive to temperature, Sinbad was given a cute t-shirt to keep him warm.
Unrecognizable
Such A Relief
Aside from having that relief of the fur removed, Sinbad actually had to relearn how to walk on his hind legs. His hind legs became atrophied due to the lack of use for such a long time.
Such A Relief
Getting A Lot Of Attention
“Now he’s getting lots of TLC and attention… “I’m just astounded at how he just loves people…” “Even though people haven’t always treated him very well… It’s a lesson we could all learn” His new owner said.
Getting A Lot Of Attention
Five Pounds
“He didn’t get a lot of attention because of all the matting on his body and carrying five pounds worth of mats so he was not just in a neglective environment but a neglective condition as well,” Elliott Serrano, education manager at the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society, said.
Five Pounds
Gaining Weight
The next challenge Sinbad had was gaining weight – he was deeply malnourished when he was found. “We had a volunteer step up who is very good at getting cats to eat, started making a grool, putting it in his mouth and after six days of that he started eating on his own,” said Dr. Robyn Barbiers, president of the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society.
Gaining Weight
Healthy Again
Once he was healthy again, Sinbad needed to be put up for adoption. However, something happened while he was being fostered. He had a special bond between him and his foster parent. “That first weekend when I took him home when he just wanted to lay on my chest and purr and chirp and be with me.” His foster parent said. “That convinced me that he wanted to stay”
Healthy Again
Caring
“We would never have known if somebody hadn’t cared enough to see an animal in need, take a photo, get it to us so that our investigators could go out and rescue this cat,” He continued.
Caring
Then Vs. Now
Nowadays, Sinbad is living his best life with his owner and weighs just over eight pounds – a healthy weight for his size. His owner describes him as a feisty cat with a great attitude. In fact, he posted a photo to his Instagram showing Sinbad after he jumped on his shoulders.
Then Vs. Now
Taking Action
While this story has a happy ending, it wouldn’t have been possible without that utility worker who discovered the matted cat. Not only that, but the worker did something about it and decided to help Sinbad.
Taking Action