Sheba is a black and white short-haired cat rescued when she was a kitten in Turkey. Her owner tells her heart-warming story here and her McTimoney practitioner shares Sheba’s therapeutic journey here.
The feral cat with a tase for luxury
We have known Sheba all her life, as she had appeared as small kitten (about eight weeks old) with her sibling on the complex where we have a holiday home in Turkey. We did our best for her – when we visited Turkey she would come into our apartment and was fed regularly, but during the times we (or guests) weren’t there she had to survive as a feral cat. The average lifespan for a street cat in Turkey is three years.
There was a period where we didn’t see her for about 18 months and we thought she must have died. However, one sunny morning there she was at the front door meowing as usual. I noticed that she was walking differently and couldn’t get up the stairs as well as she used to. We have since come to the conclusion that she had been severely kicked or beaten with something. Thereafter, there was a slow deterioration culminating in her being unable to get up the stairs to our apartment, and seeming to be unhappy and in pain. I suspected that if I took her to the local vets in Turkey they would have prescribed Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories, or something similar, which at her age I didn’t want to do if there were other options. She had managed to beat the odds and survive until 11 years old, and she deserved to have holistic veterinary treatment to aid her more so we decided to bring her back to the UK.
Holistic veterinary care
The decision to bring Sheba to the UK from the only home she knew in Turkey at 11 years old – including a five day road journey – was not taken lightly, but I realised it was her only chance of being pain-free and having a quality of life for however long she had left. I thought at that time she may survive another 6-12 months. My belief is she would not have been able to survive for much longer given the extreme pain and arthritic condition of her back. I knew that at home in the UK I could get her good holistic veterinary care with support from my animal therapist. Sure enough, with the help of my homeopathic vet, Dr. Sarah Stieg, and my animal therapist, Liz Harris, she has enjoyed nearly three years of being pampered and loved but most of all she happy with a good quality of life. Even as an old lady, she has played with her toys, eaten raw chicken wings and sunbathed happily in the garden. She has her own steps leading up to her favourite spot and a heat blanket. The homeopathic veterinary treatment she has received has enabled her to enjoy her food, and to move around without acute pain; and the treatment she has received from Liz has helped so much in keeping her comfortable.
Sheba makes me laugh every day and I’m so happy that my belief and experience from having a homeopathic vet complemented with a McTimoney animal chiropractor allowed me to give her this chance.
her course of treatments.