Beatriz with Cani-Dude this past summer

This is so hard to write. I hadn’t heard from Beatriz for awhile, so I got in touch to see how she was doing. After the Dude died in September, her beloved dog Gitanito passed away a few weeks later, so she was feeling bereft, as I’m sure you can imagine. But then I found out something else horrible started happening. Some monster began poisoning the cats in Plaza Santa Cruz, where the Dude used to live. Beatriz works in the square, and she and her colleagues would give the cats food and water. This is how she came to know and love the Dude (who she called Cani) and led to her eventually taking him home.

When the cats in the square started getting sick and dying, including Dude’s “girlfriend” – a lovely tabby who was his constant companion for years – Beatriz took one of the sick cats to the vets. It was too late to save him, but blood tests showed that he had definitely had been poisoned.

Since then Beatriz has rescued these three cats, but she needs our help. Two of them are temporarily at her house, and the third is still “in hospital”. We are hoping to find homes for them. Here are their stories.

Garfield. A big beautiful orange striped tabby. Male. Beatriz has had him castrated and his blood tests show him to be healthy. He is used to being outdoors and would be best suited to a home with access to a garden.

Negrita. Pretty black female with green eyes. She is going to be sterilized next week and will then have her blood work done as well. So far she appears to be healthy. She is very affectionate and would be a happy house cat.

Vampi is a black male with yellow eyes. I remember him from the square – he reminds me of Azar! He is still at the vet’s because he has been diagnosed with feline leukemia, which means he can still lead a relatively normal life, but he cannot be with other cats that haven’t been vaccinated as it is very contagious (to cats, not humans).

All the cats are between 2-3 years old. This is heartbreaking because they were all fine living in the Plaza Santa Cruz, even though of course a street cat doesn’t tend to live as long as a house cat (with Dude being an exception). I can’t even imagine what kind of person could do this, but although Beatriz has kindly rescued these three, and has paid for their vet bills, she cannot keep them. At the moment she is looking for a shelter that might take them, but it would be wonderful if we could find them forever homes. If you can help in any way please get in touch.

Traducción en español abajo…
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