Our Story
My name is Grace, and I was born with mild cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), which is an underdevelopment of the cerebellum that results in wobbliness. I also have vision troubles. When I was little, my humans took me to get spayed and then they declawed me too! It was awful :( I don’t know what happened, but somehow I ended up wandering the streets in Wyandotte, MI, this past summer. I was alone and scared. By some miracle, I was found and taken to the Wyandotte Animal Control (WAC). I could barely walk and my vision was so bad that they thought I was blind, too. Regardless of my physical issues, WAC tried to find my humans, but they never came looking for me. The nice volunteers posted me on Facebook as being up for adoption in late August of 2014, to try to find me a new home. Meanwhile, one of the nice volunteers, Tina, spent as much time as she could with me, trying to make me feel safe and loved. I didn’t know if I’d ever have another forever home… Or if I even believed in the possibility of a forever home, anymore…
On August 26th, 2 days after her birthday, my Mom saw my photo on Facebook, looking for a new home. Usually, Mom just cross-posts to try to help kitties, but not this time… Mom and Dad already had one kitty, Care Bear, who has been with them for the last 10 years. Mom is highly allergic to kitties and she said she’d never have more than one. Never, that is, until she saw my picture :) Mom traded many emails with Alyssa, the nice lady who runs the shelter. She needed to know if I could manage stairs, because our house has 2 flights of them. Friday the 29th, Alyssa took me to her house and found that I could manage stairs, so she let Mom know and she practically ran out the door to drive from Cleveland, OH to Wyandotte to bring me home. As soon as Mom got to the shelter, she scooped me up in her arms and promised me forever. I didn’t believe her, but she held me and talked to me and I felt safe and warm. During the ride home, Mom rubbed my head and talked to me softly.
It’s been one big adventure since then. At first, I couldn’t jump onto anything. My coordination was awful and so was my vision. After about a month, though, my wobble was greatly reduced and I was able to jump up on the low futon in my sanctuary room. After 2 months, I was able to get up on the couches and chairs and after three months, I shocked the heck out of Mom and took a flying leap onto the guest room bed, which is up on a frame. I’ll always have a “wobble,” but it’s much better now. I am SO healthy now, and went from 6 to 8.5lbs. I’m very small, but very solid, now! For a long time, I didn’t trust that my new home and family wouldn’t disappear if I closed my eyes, so I would keep my eyes open when Mom snuggled me and refused to sleep. After a few months, though, I started to realize that my new humans love me dearly and that they aren’t going anywhere. Mom was all excited the day I finally fell asleep in her arms. Sister and I still don’t get along, but Mom and Dad are working hard to help us work out our issues. I’m a lucky girl and my mom says that she’s even luckier than I am, because I filled a spot in her soul that she didn’t know was empty until I filled it up!
