Madrid's Story

This is how the case of the kitten who months later bore the name of Madrid was reported. At that time we did not know if it was male or female, the reality was that it needed help. She was in a tended feral cat colony and belonged to a litter of three pups. His brothers and his mother were in better condition, but she had feline respiratory syndrome, very common in cat colonies. We moved her to a temporary home for her recovery, she had fleas, lice, gum stuck to his hair, internal parasites and a terrible infection in both eyes that prevented her vision. She was seen by a vet the next day, who confirmed that she was a female and prescribed medication. She was a very shy kitten, she stayed inside her bed all day and only came out when she was sure no one was home. At night she ate and did what she needed, the first days she did not socialize. However, she was allowed to apply her medication without problems.

The infection caused her to lose her right eye and required surgery to remove what was left in her eye socket. Ten days after being rescued, she underwent enucleation and was also sterilized using the prepubertal sterilization technique. Both surgeries were successful, she was in good hands. Recovery was a simple process and she adapted well to each stage.

With the passage of time, she became more confident with her protectors. But after a month and a half she developed a fungus on her skin: ringworm. It is common in cats, especially in the first six months of life, and cats that have been on the street are more likely to suffer from it. After the ringworm healed, the kitten was ready to be adopted, but she no longer looked like a puppy after she was six months old. Usually, when people are going to adopt, they always prefer puppies, however, the period we have to save the animal is just its puppy stage. Therefore, by the time she is ready to be adopted, it has been a while and although her temperament is puppyish, her size and composition is not that of a beautiful and naive kitten or small puppy that everyone wants to take home. There are also prejudices of: ¨I want her small to raise her as I want¨ or the most frequent ¨I want her to adapt well to me¨.

We published on several occasions the case for her adoption, of the need for her to go to a responsible home for the condition of her eye. Time was passing and no one adopted the minina of this story. On the other hand, her protectors were two young students who would travel to Spain in a few months and would be out of the country for several years. For all this it was urgent that we find a home for her.

Several months passed before the decision to adopt her. Being with her throughout her recovery process and seeing her heal made us love her so much. She was very affectionate with us. The fact of thinking that nobody wanted her and that the options we had were to join her in a cared-for colony or leave her in a work center as a community animal because we were leaving the country did not let us sleep. It was then that we named her Madrid, because we were going to do everything possible for her to be with us in Spain. One more of the family. We were also fans of the show "La Casa de Papel" and we thought it was the perfect name for her, one more of our band.

(Words by Orlando Martínez Durive, who is one of her owners)

And so, her temporary protectors became her ultimate family. It's what we protectors and those of us in animal activism amusingly call self-adoption. We love them so much and get so involved in the case that they end up being our pets. This was what had happened with Madrid and with her new human parents.

In other stories, the animals do not find adoption and become community animals, or spend years in their recovery homes with fewer chances of being adopted. We share this story for the many other dogs and cats that are left on the street by families that decide to emigrate. For the others that we have not been able to save and that could have a story similar to that of Madrid. Let's hope it inspires other families and that we can have more volunteer hands to help stray animals.

Today Madrid has her home in Madrid, Spain, and her story was the inspiration for the illustration by Iris Fundora, thanks to which Madrid is now part of our collection of Real Stories.

Our Instagram: @la_rubia_de_los_gatos_us

Madrid's Instagram: @madrid_cat

Pendientes Colgantes Madrid

Buy Now