This is Annie. She is a sweet little girl who was living outdoors alone. She kept trying to find food across the road where people were feeding an outdoor colony. The cats in the colony would not allow her to eat with them.
About ten months ago, a good Samaritan eventually brought Annie to Animals In Distress. She was full of scratches, bite marks, and she was terribly malnourished.
These photos are of Annie when she came into the shelter. As with so many other rescues, it is obvious life had been challenging for Annie during her life lived prior to coming to Animals In Distress.
While Annie’s story for the past ten months has been one of living with love, kindness, a full tummy, etc., as of July 1, 2025, her story has taken a downturn. One of our staff was petting under Annie’s chin and felt a lump the size of a marble. The mass was biopsied and was found to be growing up inside her mouth and involved her whole right lower jaw. The bone is disintegrating. The biopsy showed the mass to be squamous cell carcinoma. The radiologist said it is an extremely aggressive form of cancer. This must be true considering the veterinarian did major dental work only three months ago with no signs or symptoms of a mass.
Annie is on several pain medications. She is eating canned food and loving every bite! She loves to be held in people’s arms, looking over their shoulder and purring like crazy. She climbs right up to snuggle in right into their neck. We will give her as much time as we can, but feel her quality of life will be affected sooner rather than later, and then it will be time. She is everyone’s extra favorite little girl. She always looked like she was scowling even before she had her surgery… But she is definitely the sweetest!
