You may recall that before Christmas we shared the story of Linus; the sweet cat who had been shot. We have a very exciting update on his story below!

When Linus first arrived at our shelter, it was immediately clear that he hadn’t been looked after for a very long time - his incisor teeth were missing, and his canine teeth were very worn and chipped, and he had numerous wounds around his neck. But sadly, that wasn’t all – during a routine minor surgery, our vet team discovered that Linus had pellets in his abdomen – he had been shot!

It was a heart-breaking discovery - this poor boy had been through such a rough time, but we were determined to help him.

Without surgery and vet treatment, Linus would have been at risk of developing infections or other serious health issues. And if left untreated, there was the concern that the pellets could cause lameness or other serious medical issues.

Dr Michelle, one of our veterinarians at AWL, managed to remove all but one of the pellets - the last one had broken into small fragments and was too close to Linus’ elbow joint to remove.

“I can't imagine how painful this must have been – it was remarkable that he was still able to walk on that leg”, said Dr Michelle.

Despite the trauma that he’d experienced, he was such a friendly and sociable cat – we knew with treatment and love, Linus would recover. The very next day after surgery Linus was chatty and smoochy with the vet nurses; this gorgeous boy was finally on the road to recovery.

Linus spent the next few months with one of our dedicated foster carers while his wounds healed. Just after Christmas he was finally ready for the next stage of his journey; he got the all clear from our vet team and was ready to be adopted.

I’m thrilled to say that Linus finally found his loving new home over the weekend!

Alannah, his new owner, said she is so excited about her new life with Linus, and couldn’t wait to take him home.

I can’t imagine what Linus’ fate would’ve been if AWL and Dr Michelle hadn’t been there to remove the pellets from Linus, and care for him until he was well enough to be adopted.

Linus has been given a second chance at a long and happy life full of love thanks to kind support from our wonderful community of animal lovers. We're so grateful to everyone who donated and helped Linus find his new home - THANK YOU!!!

If you didn't get a chance to support Linus, but would still like to support the other animals who are currently in our care, you can give a kind gift below.