Andre

We will never know what happened to Andre but the injuries he sustained pointed to abuse. Andre was found with a severely dislocated jaw, a fractured chin and bone chip in his cheek. The injuries were more than 2 weeks old and were healing wrong. He was starving and emaciated because he could not open his mouth. All he could do is stick out his tongue to try and lick up whatever food he could. He was filthy and covered in fleas that were eating him alive and making him anemic. He wandered into a yard seeking help. A kind person, Emily, was trying to feed him and help him, but Andre needed immediate medical care.

After several surgeries and many weeks of care, Andre healed from his wounds, although his jaw could not be fully aligned. Today he runs and plays in the sanctuary like a kitten!

Bandit is a feral kitty who spent 4 years living in a police garage until one of the officers was able to trap him and bring him to Better Days. He traded in cold winters and cement floors for warmth and comfort. Read his rescue story here.

Our Blind and

One-Eyed Cats

Mabel was a victim of neglect and abandonment who was rescued from the streets of Waterbury. She had an injury to her eye and it had to be removed. She can’t see much out of her “good” eye, either, but she gets around. She’s a funny little lady who loves her extra treats and her Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers food!

Teddy, an 18-pound feral, wandered into the Beardsley Zoo one day and eventually found his way to the sanctuary and our hearts! He is mostly blind and can only see some light. He gets around just fine and loves being outside in the enclosure. He has no trouble finding the food bowl! He doesn’t think much of us, though, and hasn’t lost much of his feral-ness. But, we continue to work on gaining his trust.

Cubby has only one eye but is a happy guy. Also feral, he came to us from from a backyard where he hung out for several years. During that time he was closely bonded with another cat and the two were inseparable. Sadly, the other kitty disappeared one day and Cubby was now alone. The kind person who was feeding them reached out and we took Cubby into the sanctuary before he disappeared also. We found he had an eye infection and the eye had to be removed. He also has no teeth. When he hisses at us, exposing his toothless gums like an old man without his dentures, we can’t help but smile! None of this slows him down, though! He loves to climbs trees in the enclosure!

Popcorn was in a feral colony with a nasty gash on his face which included the skin around his eye. Repairing the skin turned out to be more complicated than we expected and after several surgeries, we couldn’t save his eye. But he’s doing fine without it. When we took him in we were told he was so feral no one could touch him. As usual, that was not the case. Today he is loving life and is a super-sweet boy!

Popcorn

Popcorn was part of a feral colony and was found one day with a large gash on the side of his face. A local rescue took him in and they reached out for help.

The vet treated Popcorn's wound, reattaching the skin where he could. It looks like Popcorn had a bad run-in with a fence or something else that tore his skin. It didn't seem to be from a fight or abuse. After several rounds of antibiotics and wound treatments, we could not save his eye, and he had surgery to remove it.

Although he was found in a feral colony, it is likely Popcorn once had a home with humans and ended up thrown out or abandoned.

Toast

This is Toast, aka Toasty. She was a stray in Waterbury who was taken in by a friend of the rescue named Chris. Sadly, Chris passed away unexpectedly. Animal control picked up the cat and because she was semi-feral she couldn't be placed for adoption. We immediately went to pick her up and she is loving life at the sanctuary!