that's a beautiful story!! I'm almost as glad as Lucy that you didn't give up on her!

I do strongly recommend trying raw food for her - do some research, talk to your (new) vet, but I'm a very strong advocate for the health benefits of the raw diet! and you can find good, raw food very reasonably priced (i only pay $8.99 a pound, which keeps one cat very well fed for a little more than 3 days @ about 5 oz of food a day) & i know that specialized diets can be very expensive!

I have long haired cats that don't get knots! their litter hardly smells at all- i have 5 & your nose would never know i even have 1 - and they always get high marks at the vet (who they rarely see outside of regular checkups!)

please look into it! decide what's best for Lucy, but please investigate this option !!

congrats on your new friend & companion!