A cat who lost her ears because of infection has received a new crocheted woolly pair – and a new home.
Lady In A Fur Coat was taken in by Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) after being found as a stray near Madison, Wisconsin, in December, but continued to suffer from health problems.
Because her ear flaps were suffering from chronic infections and haematomas, blocking her ear canals, staff eventually had to take the decision to have them removed.
“It made her a lot more comfortable but we did recognise that it did make her look a little bit odd,” DCHS spokesperson Marissa DeGroot told the PA news agency.
“So to help bring a little more attention to her and help Lady find a home a little quicker, one of our staff members was able to crochet her a new little bonnet with some new ears.”
Ash Collins, a staff member at DCHS, produced the ear bonnet after a conversation with her colleagues about how to help Lady get adopted.
She said: “Routinely staff members and volunteers at Dane County Humane Society go above and beyond for the animals, not only in their care, making sure they’re healthy and happy, but we recognise that bringing them a little more attention is going to help them find that perfect home more quickly.
“We had been discussing, almost joking around about knitting her some ears and Ash went home that night, crocheted her a little ear bonnet and came in the next day with it.”
And the post clearly had the desired effect as Lady was adopted within a day of the pictures being put on Facebook.
The shelter is not revealing any details about Lady’s new family, but did confirm they had come forward after seeing her on Facebook.
“We do know that she had seen the post and made the connection,” Ms DeGroot said.
“We’re really excited that Lady not only got adopted but she can bring a lot of attention to very unique animals in need and we have over 9,000 animals coming into our shelter every year so she really is this perfect poster kitty for animals in need.”