A poor feline badly needing proper grooming was rescued by the Animal League Shelter and Wildlife Center in Pennsylvania, USA earlier this week.
Years of neglect has left a pet cat named Hidey with a severe case of matted fur, which eerily resembled a human’s braided hair also known as ’dreadlocks’.
The 14-year-old calico used to belong to an 82-year-old man who was relocated to a health care facility due to his Alzheimer’s disease, the New York Post reported.
“Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body and, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now!” the center proudly shared on their Facebook page. “She will be cared for by a distant relative of her previous owner and finally have a chance at a happy and healthy life.”
According to the animal facility, a whopping two pounds of matted hair was removed from the suffering pet, which was anesthetized while the dreadlocks were being carefully shorn off.
Meanwhile, Paul Rusell, the relative who discovered Hidey and brought her to the facility, shared how he stumbled upon the freakish-looking cat.
“When they put him in the nursing home, I thought, ‘Hey, he has a cat,’” Russell was quoted as saying in the report. “The house was still open, so I went down and left some food for the cat until we figured out what we’re going to do,” he said.
“Then somebody mentioned that he had a second cat. So I started searching around, and suddenly this huge creature darts out from under the bed and runs down to the cellar, and I thought, ‘What was that?’”
The puzzled relative admitted to be spooked at first by what appeared to be some sort of abomination, until he realized it was just a cat.
“She hid down in the corner of the cellar. I’m down there with a flashlight looking — it was almost like a horror movie. And I found her hunkering in the corner. Probably very scared. Probably in a lot of pain,” he shared.
After being sheared, Hidey was deemed overweight by the shelter’s vets, but appeared to be in good health.
The cat’s unique condition, meanwhile, became a viral hit on social media and the facility’s original post has been shared over 8,000 times.
Several netizens shared their heartfelt sentiments for the poor feline, while others questioned the authenticity of the picture and claimed it was photoshopped. Khristian Ibarrola
