For December’s edition of my Special Cats series, I had the immense privilege of speaking with Maleficent’s human, Sarah. Maleficent is a pretty amazing kitty. She was born deaf, and either lost her sight as a kitten, or was born without sight. When I came across Mal, I was obsessed with her beauty and grace, and her super cool galaxy eyes, so I knew I had to dedicate this month to her.
A Complicated Beginning
When Mal was just under a year old, she was originally sold on Craigslist in Wisconsin. Her first owners had no idea that she was deaf, but they knew that her vision was impaired and that proved to be too much for them.
Luckily for Mal, the woman who answered the Craigslist ad got her in with Twin Cities Pet Rescue in Minneapolis, MN. She was quickly adopted by family but unfortunately, after a year they returned her as she was having trouble adjusting to their home and was ultimately unhappy.
Over the next few years, she went through various foster homes while TCPR tried to find her the right home.
That’s where Sarah comes in:
“I first saw Mal on a Facebook cat group that I’m in…when a volunteer for the rescue posted her hoping to get some more attention for her. I immediately e-mailed the rescue inquiring if they would consider adopting her across the country (I live in New Hampshire). Unfortunately, the rescue had a strict 60-mile adoption radius and I live 1,460 miles away from Minneapolis. I kept checking on their social media and saw Mal was still looking for a home so a month later I emailed every single person I could find that worked for the rescue outlining my experience with difficult special needs cats and also offered to provide letters of recommendation from my veterinarian and animal rescues that I’ve volunteered/fostered through in the past.”
After some convincing and diligence on Sarah’s part, the rescue agreed that her home and experience with special needs kitties was uniquely suited to Mal’s needs.
A New Life
Now, Mal is thriving in her new home. When she takes some time off from being an Instagram icon, she’s a busy kitty.
“As far as limitations, Mal doesn’t know she has any! She was born deaf and was either born with her poor vision or developed it as a young kitten. As far as special care goes she simply needs frequent nail trims to keep her un-retractable claws from getting in her way and daily OTC eyedrops to keep her eyes comfortable, both of which she is very good about. Her deafness and poor vision make it less stressful for her to go out and about in public. She is fairly bomb-proof when she goes out in her stroller. We’ve taken her to Haunted houses, local festivals and she frequently visits the hair salon with me. She absolutely loves to meet new friends on her travels.”
Mal also has a special needs sibling, named Stephen, that she lives with. The reason Sarah was so drawn to her in the first place is because of her experience being Stephen’s human.
“Stephen came to us as a foster who wasn’t thriving in the shelter. His rescue was honestly not sure what his quality of life would be. Over the course of a year my boyfriend and I were able to acclimate Stephen to be an amazing, happy, fulfilled pet. Watching him go from a very confused little deaf-blind guy with neurological issues that nobody was sure was going to be ok to the confident, thriving cat we have now was the most rewarding experience of my pet owning life. We knew that if we could get Stephen so far Mal would be a piece of cake.”
From day one Maleficent bonded with her humans, and she also immediately hit it off with her other two furry siblings, Winnifred and Marceline. While she’s still a little confused as to how to interact with Stephen, she’ll never say no to snuggling up for a nap with him.
Mal also has quite a personality:
“Mal is quite simply a goofy cat. Her syndactyly (webbed) paws make her walk with a little trot and she is always up for playing and petting. My favorite thing about Mal is how trusting and friendly she is with strangers. We take her out to local events and festivals in her stroller and she is frequently swamped by groups of small children and is happy to be pet and touched by them. She is so good at this that I’m considering training her to be a therapy animal.”
Who is Maleficent’s human?
Maleficent got pretty lucky to have such awesome humans. Sarah has always been an animal lover.
“I was lucky enough to grow up in a home full of cherished pets. As soon as I was old enough my mother started bringing me to volunteer at the local animal shelters. I am absolutely an advocate for animal adoption! There are so many wonderful pets out there just waiting for the right person to adopt them.”
We do these articles in order to educate our readers about the positives of adopting animals instead of purchasing them from mills and other unethical breeders. We also want to educate readers about the importance of giving special needs animals a chance.
But, what’s important to understand is that there’s a lot that goes into raising a special needs kitty.
“The struggles of adopting a special needs kitty can vary so much from cat to cat. I was so shocked when I realized how easy Stephen was to care for! Mal is a little more involved as she needs twice weekly nail trims and daily eyedrops, but she is still much less work and responsibility than owning a dog. It turns out that cats are so capable and amazing that one who is deaf, blind (or even both) can actually get around quite well and need very little extra care.”
As always, we as well as all of our interviewees urge you to choose adoption.
“I would urge anyone who is considering adopting a special needs cat to reach out to the rescue or shelter, I promise they will be more than willing to have an in depth discussion about the pets specific needs and what their day to day care would consist of. [But overall], there are so many amazing animals waiting to be adopted.”
