Here Is Our Story

Lola and Loki

The first cat to set foot from the garden into our home was Lola. She was the first cat to sit on my lap in my life either. I even covered the couch with a plastic bag so she would come back and sit. She would come, rustling on the plastic, and settle on my lap. She would call me to play in the garden. Neighbors who saw us would ask, "Is that your cat?" She wasn’t yet. After about nine months of her coming and going, I couldn't think of anything but Lola when I traveled to another city for my cousin’s wedding. There, I explained the situation to my parents and, despite all their objections, I adopted Lola upon my return.

Lola Right Before Entering My Life

Neither of us knew anything about taking care of a cat or living indoors. We both struggled a lot, and at first, I felt like I was doing her a great disservice.

After a while, Lola developed a fungal infection. She had open sores on her face and some parts of her body. We tried every treatment we heard of—medications, ointments, fungal vaccines—but nothing worked.

Eventually, she went into heat. She couldn’t have the spaying surgery because of the fungus, and the stress from being in heat aggravated her condition. We decided to go ahead with the surgery despite the fungus to break this cycle. This time, she developed complications after the spaying surgery, and her lungs filled with fluid.

After this challenging period and nearly eight months of wearing an Elizabeth collar, Lola and I established our normal routine. During this time, I also got married, giving Lola a dad.

Everything was going well until Loki joined our household.

As I delved deeper into the world of cats, I saw how fragile stray animals were and how much they depended on human care. Together with my next-door neighbor, we provided food and medical care to many cats in our garden. Loki was one of those cats.

Shortly after he was born, he developed an eye infection, causing one eye to close. We couldn’t catch him despite our efforts. We sought help from the municipality and veterinarians, but no one responded. Finally, one day, my husband caught him by chance. His eye was infected due to Herpes and Calicivirus, and there was a risk of losing it.

Since his treatment would be lengthy, my husband built a spacious coop-like area for him to continue his treatment. The coop was in my neighbor’s garden, and whenever my neighbor went inside, Loki would start crying loudly, disturbing the neighborhood. Months passed this way, and one day, it rained heavily. Our little one got soaked, and we had to bring him inside. That’s why we say he pretended to be blind to move in, as he was at risk of losing his eye. After long treatments and surgeries, the eye that was thought to be lost only retained a scar. He sees through that eye with a slight blemish and has regular check-ups.

Lola and Loki

Despite following the advice of veterinarians and animal behaviorists, Lola never accepted Loki, even from his kitten days. She constantly beat him up when he was little. Loki always wanted to be near Lola and sought her affection, but she never gave it to him.

As years passed and Loki turned around four years old, the dynamics began to change. Loki first became big, then, hard as it is to admit, turned into an obese cat and developed a dominant personality. He started bullying Lola and taking over her space. The more we created separate playtimes with Lola, the more aggressive and determined he became.

Lola started urinating, then defecating, outside her litter box. Despite following all the advice from veterinarians, the problems between them remained unresolved. One early morning, Lola began incessantly chasing her tail in bed.

It was a heart-wrenching sight, and we immediately took her to the vet. She started on antidepressants due to severe depression. We sought consultation from veterinarians specializing in animal behavior. Our complaints decreased but didn’t disappear entirely, and when Loki’s jealousy and aggressive behavior intensified, he was also prescribed the same medication.

We are currently managing the situation as best as we can, though it's not perfect. So, we would appreciate a good-luck wish from you.

And, here is our story.