Sometimes our focus stories don’t turn out exactly as planned, but they are still successes. Thus begins the story of Rhea.

Ten-year old Rhea had been someone’s pet at some point, but found herself in the West Valley Shelter after being picked up as a stray. The shelter reached out to local rescues, as this kitty needed medical attention for what looked like a severely injured left ear. CAWS pulled Rhea and took her straight to our vet. He informed us that it wasn’t an injury at all; it was Cancer. To save Rhea’s life, the doctor removed both of her ears to prevent further spread of the disease. Rhea has probably had this cancer a long time and our vet is doubtful that he got it all. He estimates our Rhea has between 6 months and a year to live. The saddest part of Rhea’s story is that if only her family would have taken her in for treatment when the redness started, her prognosis for a full recovery would have been excellent. But that’s not what happened. Still, we find peace and joy in knowing that Rhea is now completely pain-free and very content. CAWS and our donors gave her the gift of time. After surgery, Rhea recuperated with her CAWS foster family, who told us that Rhea can still hear and enjoys having her little ear nubs rubbed!  But the best news is that Rhea is now on a trial adoption and it looks VERY promising! It appears that our girl has found her forever family. While Rhea has no guarantee that her life will be long, whatever time she has will be filled with love! ♥♥♥