Last August, we pulled NINE kitties from ACAC in one day! There was Salsa and Sriacha- two under-socialized boys with a VERY feral mom. Mom was spayed and put to work in ACAC's barn cat program. Echo and Cosmo were brought into ACAC in very poor, emaciated, and sickly conditions. Hemi was a too-young-to-be-away-from-mom kitten found in the middle of the four-lane. And turned out to have a broken leg. Then our 4 oranges: Mango, Marigold, Cheeto, and Cheddar. Who were terrified and had some URI issues going on. We were able to get everybody healthy, happy, and socialized. All of these guys except Cheddar have since been either adopted directly from us, or transferred to our rescue partners where they were quickly adopted. (Mango has been returned. We will post her story soon). Then there was Cheddar. This boy has been through so much. What we thought was a basic URI was most assuredly not. He had almost 7 months of a continuous goopy, snotty, can't-really-breathe life. His foster should have gotten frequent flyer miles for all the vet visits. He went through like 7 different antibiotics, several different steroids, nose drops, and his foster mom constantly cleaning mucous. Cheddar was underweight because it was a struggle to get him to eat, since he couldn't smell his food. Not only that, but putting his face down into a bowl meant he couldn't breathe. He basically had to be hand fed and watered. Not only that, his sleep pattern was constantly interrupted. He had to sleep with his mouth open. If he closed it, he couldn't breathe and would wake himself up. We thought he might end up being a forever foster. After multiple rounds of antibiotics with no real constant improvement; our vet sedated him to not only neuter him, but also scope his nasal passage. They found a bunch of infection that they cleaned out, but no cause. He was sent home with yet another different antibiotic with a hope that this would finally clear him up. Alas, it was not to be. The vet agreed that all of general skills and experience had been exhausted. It was time to seek out a specialist. They referred us to an excellent clinic in Hickory. There , we FINALLY had an answer. Cheddar had a polyp the size of his kidney in his nasal passage -- we've see pictures; it was huge!! Thankfully he's an orange and didn't need that head space for any brain cells (iykyk). We wanted to keep it because we're like that, but it needed to be sent off to make sure it was not cancerous. Thankfully, everything came back clear. That was a month ago. And he is no longer Darth Vader Cheddar McSnot Monster. He enjoys food so much his foster has had to cut back. Playtime actually involves play without him quickly getting winded: and without the other cats getting freaked out about his wheezing. And most importantly, REALLY enjoy the cuddles and affection from. His foster family. Cheddar is now ready to be adopted. But we have been through so much with him, that his foster is going to be VERY picky. This orange is one of the sweetest, most good-natured cats. Literally months of daily oral medications, having drops stuck up his nose, numerous vet visits with a variety of medical procedures done; and he has never lost his happy-go-lucky-attitude. He gets along with all humans and other cats. He hasn't been around dogs. However, if they are cat-friendly and proper introductions are done, we don't anticipate problems. As always, we require any cat adopted from us to be indoor-only. If you are interested in adopting Cheddar, link is here: https://www.ashehumanesociety.org/adoptions