Magicats

Magicats fans will remember Moto, the featured tabby kitten who nearly lost his life in a fire, and who was patiently awaiting his purr-fect home. Here’s a great Magically Ever After report from his new family who have given him the name of Conley.

We adopted Conley in May of this year. When we started looking for a new cat, we had just come off the loss of our other boy cat, Bernard. We knew we wanted a friendly, loving cat who wouldn’t be afraid to jump up in our laps and snuggle up for some attention. When I first met Conley (then Moto) he bounded into the waiting room of the vet’s office where he had been staying for the last 11 months. Because of the scarring on his legs and feet, Conley doesn’t run like a normal cat, and hops more like a bunny. When I sat down, he immediately jumped right up in my lap and butted me in the face. In that moment, he had my heart! My husband and I tried to think of a name for him, unique to his experiences. We settled on Conley, which means “purified by fire.”

After he came home, we noticed that he was frequently chewing on his tail. This began to worry us, as we knew that due to his fire injuries it could be something more than just obsessive behavior. This started a long, very stressful journey for us and our boy. After visiting with several vets without success, we were referred to The Cat Doctor in Boise, which specializes in cases like these. We tried several things, and after tests, the infected end of the tail was removed, as were the deformed claws on his front feet. At first we thought this would solve the problem, but five days later, he began chewing the tail again and broke the skin. We didn’t want him to have to go through life wearing a e-collar. At that point, we were willing to try most anything, and our doctor then suggested we try acupuncture to treat the nerve damage in the tail. We had the first treatment in October, and it was a miracle! After two appointments and herbal treatment, Conley has stopped chewing his tail - and for a month has been able to give up his e-collar!

While we’ve definitely had some challenges with Conley’s health, we have never for one second regretted bringing him into our family! He was exactly what we were looking for in a cat, and just what we needed to fill that last empty space in our hearts. He is pure joy to watch; he is either playing with his favorite mouse toy or sleeping in his spot on the couch. He knows just when bedtime is, and will get up on his special stairs to the bed and waits patiently on them for us to join him. As soon as we are both settled under the covers, he bounds onto the bed, kneads my chest, and curls up next to my face where he sleeps the whole night through. He’s ever-present with us, loves his cat sister, Sophie, and tries to play with his dog sister Coen and dog brother, Freeman, who just look at him like he’s weird. He loves to have his ears rubbed; it feels good on his scars, and his scruff massaged while we watch movies or read by the fire.

Conley has come such a long way since May. While there were many times it was emotionally trying for us, we were always thankful to Magicats for bringing him into our lives. He is truly our pride and joy and we are so lucky to have such a beautiful, loving boy in our family.

Thank you for all you do - please keep doing it - especially for those special needs guys who bring so much to a family! I can’t imagine life without Conley, and he will always have a special place in our family and in our hearts!

Annie and Travis Estvold