Meet Scrappy and Alley

How can you not root for a cat called Scrappy? For years, he’d roamed the streets of his Hollywood neighborhood managing to elude predators, seek shelter and keep his belly full thanks to neighbors with can openers and kind hearts.

   

One had been on the streets for years, the other probably a few months. Neither would have survived much longer.

Then last spring he disappeared. The worst was assumed—a dog, a car, perhaps a hungry hawk. One day a few weeks ago, he returned.

Only this Scrappy was a shell of his former self. And a disoriented one at that, oblivious to danger as he sat in the street staring blankly at folks he wouldn’t let help him. But as his condition deteriorated, his defenses did too. Says the rescuer who caught him, “He just had no more energy to resist.”

The veterinarians weren’t optimistic. “In terrible shape…extremely emaciated…not much time left…we’ll have to hope for the best…”

Raging eye and gum infections responded to medication. Hyperthyroidism was treated. The tangled brownish coat turned out to be gray underneath all the grime. He began to gain weight. He also began to do something else. Scrappy, it seems, knew how to purr.

He clearly couldn’t go back to the streets. He was frail and thin, needing ongoing care. Two days after Thanksgiving, Scrappy came to live with us.

Alley came to live with us one holiday earlier. But it wasn’t a Halloween mask that kept one eye open even as the other blinked. Nerve damage had left her with partial paralysis in her pretty tabby face.

A visit to our vet revealed the probable cause—a deep, nasty ear infection that hadn’t responded to previous treatment. Life in a back alley is hard on a girl.

Unlike the very senior Scrappy, Alley is only about a year old. What do they have in common? Besides purring—Alley’s pretty good at that, too—they are both survivors of the streets. Two cats who surely have earned a little heaven on earth.

And that is where you come in.

Scrappy and Alley may be at opposite ends of the life spectrum, but they both are now safe, comfortable and loved because of the support of people like you.

For 10 years, Heaven on Earth Society for Animals has provided sanctuary for cats in need—elderly, injured, chronically ill, painfully shy. Through our adoptions and foster programs, many find homes. Those who don’t will always have a home with us. You make that possible.

Scrappy and Alley are eating well and taking their meds like troopers. Scrappy’s tendency to finish every meal with food on his nose is truly endearing. So is the way Alley greets everyone who enters her room, as though her contract requires it. Purring abounds.

We know there are countless worthy causes seeking support this holiday season and we are grateful beyond words for your help with ours.

If your household might be brightened by the presence of a little girl named Alley, please remember she’s available for adoption! And if you can’t open your home, we hope you’ll open your heart…with a tax-deductible donation that will help us care for all the Alleys and Scrappys who will need us in the year ahead.