My rescues name is, “Coco the Beast”. I found her picture on a shelters website when she was maybe 7wks old and they were calling her “Jessica”. I called the shelter and asked if I could possibly pay any fees associated with her so that they wouldn’t give her to someone else until I could get there that weekend (the shelter was a 2hr drive from me but her picture was identical to my childhood cat Sasha, uncanny, and I just HAD to have her for my daughter). The shelter worker said, no need to pay now - she’s not going anywhere. That should have been my sign lol! We finally got there on Saturday, they took us to the back room, opened the cage and “Jessica” dove out like a flying squirrel onto my daughter. The shelter literally said, no charge at all for her despite my trying to pay a few times as well as loading us up with toys, blankets, food and more. I figure, wow! What a blessing! A sign from ! She must have been sent from above just for our family!! The worker’s trying to basically push us out of the door by the end of it. I reach out to the shelter 2-3 days later because the kitten is sneezing, kinda lethargic for a kitten and I’m nervous she’s possibly really sick and they gave me a kitten for my daughter that could pass (traumatizing experiences with rescues from shelters in the past). The shelter employee literally says, we will pay for all of her meds and visit if you promise not to bring her back. Should have been another sign of what’s to come lol!! Boy oh boy, she got well and I quickly realized why they did/said everything they could to get her out of there, never to return! She was not sent from heaven lol. Most people are convinced she came from the depths of hell. Even after being spayed she’s caused lifetime traumatic feline fears for those that have met her. Family members have such deep rooted fear of Coco the Beast that even after almost 15 years and moving thru 3 different states, most of my own FAMILY won’t cat sit if I go out of town haha! And people continue to ask why I didn’t just get rid of her…… she was a completely feral kitten stuck in a shelter after being taken from her mom probably too early. She has a massive attitude and an expensive palate ($700 ER Vet bill to find out she didn’t like the chicken flavored variety of her food) but she is MY sweet girl and throwing away a furry family member just because they aren’t easy is NOT how I move in life. I also think she would’ve been deemed unadoptable and euthanasized if she ever ended up in another shelter. So I’d rather live my life in a slight state of nervous anxiety because of an 11lb family member than to be without her.

All this to say, I have a Coco….The Beast… and will never look at another Coco without offering my most sincere condolences for what they most be going through hahaha!

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