Meet Flora

Flora, Flossie and Little Mouse were rescued from a crowded outdoor market in the Middle East as tiny kittens. Tomatoes were on the menu that day but certainly not three baby cats not yet old enough to eat on their own. It was at the tomato stand that an unwary customer stepped on the fourth in the litter, the most adventurous among them, and unfortunately that kitten did not survive being stepped on. It was unthinkable to leave the three remaining kittens in that situation and so, in lieu of the tomatoes, they came home in a cardboard box.

Flora the Explorer is the most adventurous of all the cats now at the sanctuary. She discovered how to climb out of the bathtub that was her first 'sanctuary' a full two weeks ahead of her siblings. She's managed to tumble down inside a wall, through a tiny hole left by the building contractors, requiring rescue. She is determined to go where no cat has gone before...our Flora is an explorer extraordinaire.

In May 2015, Flora suddenly went from climbing to falling over. We rushed her to the vet and she has been diagnosed with idiopathic (unknown cause) partial facial paralysis. She was experiencing extreme vertigo. After other potential causes were ruled out, it is strongly suspected that she suffered a stroke. Her sib, Little Mouse, had a heart-attack and then a stroke before he was 2 years old, and ultimately crossed the rainbow bridge last year, aged 5, after experiencing a thromboembalism. Flora has regained her equilibrium but her left eye remains paralyzed in the open position; She gets lubricating drops 3x daily and we are hopeful she will have a full recovery.

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