Adoption information
I've been adopted!
This pet is no longer available
On Hold
About Barnaby aka Barney
MEET BARNEY!
Barney is a VERY special and very lucky boy. He is now approximately 1 year and 9 months young. Barney was found as kitten living on someones farming land in a Barn (hence the name) all by himself, no other kittens or mother around. The owners trapped Barney and brought him to our rescue where we discovered Barney had 2 luxating patella (dislocated knee caps)!
After every thing Barney has been through, he is FINALLY READY for his FUREVER HOME! We are looking for only the best, dedicated and loving home for this miracle baby who has been through so much trauma in his short life.
Barneys Journey -
March 2022, shortly after coming into our care, Barney was rushed to the after-hours vet after he was seen dragging his back legs around, unable to use them. At the after-hours vet hospital, he had xrays done and was given pain relief. The x-rays showed he had bilateral luxating patella but couldn't rule out any spinal injury or neurological problem, given his young age (only 4-5 months old) the vet advised us to just euthanize him as any further diagnostics and surgeries would be very expensive and they didn't know where to begin, we said absolutely not and asked for a referral to Animal Referral Hospital which is a specialist emergency hospital in Essendon. Barney was driven to ARH the next day, he was then booked in for an MRI to rule out any spinal injuries which would determine what we do next. Thankfully, the MRI showed NO spinal injuries/no neurological injuries and the vet was happy that it was just his patella in his 2 back legs, the left back leg was totally dislocated and unable to go back in and the right leg was slightly dislocated and able to pop in and out.
Barney was too young to have his double leg surgery yet, so we were sent home with pain relief and strict cage rest for another 6 weeks until Barney was approximately 6 months old, the youngest age possible to undergo this surgery.
Surgery day arrived and we were all VERY nervous but so excited to give this boy a new future, Barney did well throughout his surgery, it was a success and he spent 3 days down at ARH recovering.
16 months later and Barney is the happiest, healthiest, big fluffy boy! He will run, jump, pounce and climb with his new legs and you would never know all that he had been through! As you can probably imagine, Barneys surgery and MRI was thousands of dollars, which was mostly covered by our fantastic and generous supporters who followed his journey the whole way (our followers are also excited to hear that he is finally up for adoption and can't wait for him to find his perfect home!)
Barneys personality - *check out Barneys videos, pre and post op!*
Barney is such a funny, playful fella! Even when he couldn't use his back legs properly, he was still playing, wrestling with the other kitties and scratching on his scratching pole. Barney is still on the shy/timid side with strangers, after everything he has been through and being born wild has definitely caused him to be wary of others however if you just give him the time and patience, he WILL come out of his shell and show you his true self! Barney loves to sleep on the bed with his foster humans, he follows his foster mum all around the house (even to the toilet!) and waits for her. Barney is very picky with which cats he will get along with, some of his foster siblings he will cuddle up to and groom and others he will refuse to get along with! So ideally we are looking for a home just for Barney where he will be the only cat however he may get along with another passive, friendly kitty that will let him be the boss. Barney loves to climb his cat towers and will require lots of toys to keep him entertained! Better yet, some dedicated play time with his humans every day.
Saying goodbye to Barney will be bittersweet, we will be so happy for him to finally have his own forever home, but will miss him dearly!
Barney comes with a 2 week in-home trial to ensure his new home is the purrfect match and there is ALWAYS a guarantee for the rest of Barney's life that if for any reason you can no longer care for him, he will come back to us.
Barney is an INDOOR ONLY cat for life! He cannot afford to go outside and hurt himself or get into danger and damage those back legs.
Medical notes
Barneys future is bright and his new humans will just need to keep an eye on his back legs and ensure he doesn't appear stiff or painful, he will only require the usual yearly check up for vaccinations and to check his knees until the stage when he develops osteoarthritis, likely at a younger age than most kitties, Barney would do well on joint supplements such as 4cyte / rosehip vital to protect his knees as long as you can! Barney's new owners are entitled to his full vet history, which can be sent to the new owners clinic of choice upon adoption.
Desexed, microchipped, vaccinated & up to date with his flea and worm prevention.
Watch videos of Barnaby aka Barney
Adoption details
Thank you for your interest in a rescue cat! They can make the most wonderful friends and family members.
Our rescue cats have varied histories and stories and as such they each require a different home environment, we ask prospective adopters a series of questions aimed at making the perfect match so please dont be offended when asked questions. We do not adopt to a first in first serve basis and only adopt to the most suitable home possible. If you are outside Ballarat we ask that you make time to have a 30 minute video-chat with us and the kitty you are interested in so we can get to know you a little better and you can see the kitty in its home environment before coming up to Ballarat to adopt, if you are local then we hold a meet and greet at the foster home of the kitty. We only offer video chats and meet and greets to the most suitable homes.
All of our cats at Cat Lovers Ballarat are rehomed as strictly INDOOR ONLY cats and we ask that all prospective adopters only apply if they are capable and comfortable with this.
Please have patience with us as we go through all applications and make our decisions to move onto phase 2 and offer meet and greets, this can take days and sometimes a week to go through, you will be contacted whether you are successful or not.
Thank you again for your interest in one of our rescue cats!
This pet has been adopted and found love with its new family.
The rescue group has removed this pet and it is no longer available for adoption.
The rescue group is no longer taking adoption applications for this pet.
