Blind cat Melvi was found wandering the streets. When he was taken to the shelter, staff quickly noticed that he was quite special.
A few months ago, Melvin was rescued from a shelter in the city of Los Angeles and transferred to Best Friends Pet Adoption Center for a second chance at life. The sweet 3-year-old kitten was born with a condition called microphthalmia, in which the eyeballs are smaller than normal.
The medical team at Best Friends determined that his vision was limited or non-existent. Melvin may have lived with pain his whole life, so an eye surgery would make him feel so much better. At the time Melvin was in a shelter in Mission Hills, awaiting sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ. Jackie decides to visit him.
After eye sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ, Samantha Bell DiGenova, Best Friends’ cat behavior and enrichment team leader, put Melvin in foster care. She helped him learn to adjust to life in the house.
As Melvin recovered, he began to feel more confident every day. Although he has no sight, he can still explore every nook and cranny, using his beard and senses of hearing, smell, and touch to move around the house. When Melvin was ready to adopt, someone out there was eager to meet him. Jackie has contacted Samantha and arranged a time to reunite with her old friend.
That day, young Melvin and Jackie left and went to their new home. Jackie and her boyfriend Ellison were delighted to welcome their little addition to their family. The couple gradually introduced different parts of their apartment to Melvin.
“During the first week he was in our living room, we ended up letting him explore upstairs which, even after a month with us, was still a bit timid. Eventually he did. climbed into our bed the other day, it was so much fun!”
The couple bought pet stairs to make it easier for Melvin to get in and out of bed. Melvin constantly amazes people with his ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
“He’s got an interesting way of sensing things around him. He’ll move his head back and forth to pick up sounds and smells, and he’ll also move his head around so the beard can pick up a feel. sense of where things are.”
Melvin is a bug that loves to play with his humans and has a collection of boxes for scratching, chewing, and hiding. “At any given time, we’ll have a few toys strewn across the floor. He loves to crawl into weird little spaces that we never imagined he could get into.” Jackie shared.
Melvin he’s just an amazing cat who has brought so much love into the life of his new family.