The Perils of Persephone The Cat

Our Animal Welfare Officer reports on an unusual case…..

Some of you may already know of Persephone, our very special diabetic cat who we’ve desperately been looking for a home for. She came to us under very sad circumstances which we haven’t before written about in such detail.

Very upsettingly, Persephone’s previous owner had locked her out onto the balcony for days during the rain and cold last October in Croydon, and her cries alerted nearby neighbours. The neighbours wanted to do the right thing and alerted the Fire Brigade to see if they could remove the cat from the balcony and to safety. Obviously the firefighters needed to follow the correct protocol as the cat was considered property owned by the lady, however after speaking to the owner they came to realise that the reason Persephone was locked out of the house was very sad.

The lady was in the market for a new kitten, and so no longer wanted Persephone who was around 14 years old. She told the firefighters that she was looking to start a process of rehoming with another charity for Persephone, but in the meantime, she remained firm with her plans of keeping her out of the house.

As she refused to let the firefighters in and also refused to bring the cat to the door and have her signed-over safely, they had no choice but to rescue Persephone from the outside. As they did so, they contacted the RSPCA inspectorate team so that everything was done lawfully. When the RSPCA officers attended the owners property to talk about having Persephone signed-over and rehomed, the lady again refused to sign-over the cat despite admitting she didn’t want her.

She also purposefully wouldn’t tell us anything about cat out of frustration that she was removed from the balcony. Due to this we had no information about the cats name, upbringing, health, age or anything else that would be vital in finding her a loving home.

Luckily after the cat was handed over to our branch, we were able to place her in a foster home relatively quickly so we could start learning everything about her. One of the neighbours who helped us named her Persephone so we stuck with that as it fitted her quirky nature! We quickly found that she was very strangely scared of standing on soft fabrics like carpets, beds, sofas and we think this might have something to do with growing up in one place where it might have been only hard-floor.

We had Persephone vaccinated, microchipped, fleaed, wormed, tested for FIV/FeLV, and we had her neutered. When we spoke to the vets after neutering, we found that actually we had gotten there just in time as she had the beginning stages of what is called pyometra.

This is the term for an infection of the uterus which can prove fatal for cats if left untreated, and this is one of many reasons why it’s a good idea to get your female cats neutered (as well as males). After all the treatments and procedures were done, she managed to settle down in her foster home for a few weeks until we received word that she was drinking and urinating a lot more than normal. This rang alarm bells in my head as it sounded like diabetes, and this was later confirmed at the vets.

The last few weeks have been an important part of Persephone’s journey, as she has seen the vets a few times in order to figure out what the correct dose of insulin is for her. We finally got to the right amount, and she’s officially up for adoption again!

We are extremely lucky that Persephone is a big lover of her food, as it means doing her injections is easy and she doesn’t care that it’s happening as long as she’s tucking in at the same time. The rest of the time she loves sleeping and looking out of the window at the outside world. Her fosterers have told us how quirky and feisty she is, and how she is a very colourful character to have around the house.

The times I have helped look after her have been so much fun because she will rub against your legs and headbutt your hand for food, but the moment she’s finished she is done with the affection so you can really tell the cogs are still moving in her head!

Truth be told, we have really been struggling to find Persephone a home because of the injections she needs, however we are determined to keep looking. As the diabetes is a pre-existing condition, the RSPCA South London Branch will of course cover the expense of the insulin, syringes, sharps bin, and any related vet appointments required to keep this condition managed throughout her life.

There is a slight chance that she could go into remission, especially as the diabetes was caught early. Although she is listed as 14 years old, she looks and behaves like a much younger cat and we only think she is 14 due to something the previous owner mentioned.

If you think you could offer Persephone the life she deserves and don’t mind supporting her with her injections, please do get in touch by emailing enquiries@rspcasouthlondon.org.uk.

We may be considering an indoor living situation for her so that her diabetes can be easily managed, so don’t worry if you think your living situation might not be suitable as we would like to consider all of our options! We do think however that she would prefer to not live with other cats, and possibly not with dogs either.

You can see a couple of videos of Persophone playing with her toys on our YouTube channel.

Video One

Video Two

If you are unable to give Persephone a home but would like to help towards her diabetes treatment, please click on the donation button below. Many thanks.