Cat McAuliffe
When Carly’s family member found an injured kitten in November 2016, she instantly knew she had to help the tiny tabby. “I grew up on a farm and taking cats and kittens in was just second nature to me,” explains Carly. “I’ve always loved cats.”
Carly learned the kitten, who was approximately one week old when he was rescued following a snow storm, was blind in one eye. “They found him out in freezing temperatures with a stick impaling his eye,” remembers Carly. “The stick was removed but the vision was lost forever.”
Thankfully, aside from the injury to his eye, the kitten appeared to be in good health. However, due to his young age, Little Guy should have been nursing from his mother, so Carly had to bottle feed him a milk replacer, or kitten formula, every few hours. “His mother must’ve left him behind, as I was told they do that sometimes if the kitten is hurt,” says Carly.
Fortunately for the diminutive tabby, Carly proved to be an excellent surrogate mom, and the two of them formed a very special bond. “Obviously, I instantly fell in love with the little cutie,” says Carly, so she eventually adopted him, naming him Little Guy.
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With Carly’s help, Little Guy thrived, and over time he grew from a tiny kitten into a strapping adult cat. However, when he was approximately three years old, Little Guy’s injured eye started to swell.
“It eventually needed to be removed due to complications with the eye,” explains Carly. Fortunately, it didn’t take Little Guy long to recover from the surgery, or to adjust to life as a one-eyed cat.
“People may think he’s unhappy or notices a difference,” says Carly, “but he’s been without vision in the one eye for so long, that he truly doesn’t know any better.”
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In fact, while people often assume Little Guy must not be as active or agile as a typical feline, they couldn’t be more wrong. “His balance, his coordination, and his playfulness aren’t altered at all compared to a ‘normal’ cat,” says Carly.
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In fact, Little Guy is incredibly active, and when he’s not spending time with Carly’s children, this handsome boy loves to play. “Little Guy enjoys babysitting his human brothers, playing with strings, chasing laser pointers,” says Carly, “and he enjoys doing ‘shout out’ videos with the letter board.”
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Despite only having one eye, Little Guy isn’t really all that different from a typical cat, and he doesn’t really require any special accommodations. However, since bringing him home in November 2016, Carly has been vigilant about doing her best to help preserve Little Guy’s remaining sight. “The challenge I’ve faced is just being in constant worry that something will happen to the other eye,” explains Carly. “We keep him indoors for this reason.”
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Carly is also working diligently to help Little Guy lose the weight he gained after he was diagnosed with asthma and started taking steroids. “He’s been slowly losing the pounds with some exercise and dieting,” says Carly, who wants to do everything she can to keep Little Guy healthy.
More than five years after he was rescued, Little Guy — who was found outside, cold, injured, and alone — now has a safe, warm, and happy forever home. Without a doubt, Little Guy is incredibly lucky Carly adopted him, but she considers herself just as fortunate to have this special boy as a part of her family. “Little Guy arrived in my life when I needed him the most,” says Carly. “I see him as a blessing.”
To learn more about this handsome cat, you can follow Little Guy on Instagram.
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