ANIMALS

Poor Cat Was Rescued From Neglect And Relieved From The Burden Of Having Two Pounds Of Tangled Fur Removed

Cats are often seen as independent animals who can take care of themselves. They usually spend long periods outside, only coming back to eat and groom themselves, making them relatively easy to care for. However, some cat breeds have fur that requires regular grooming, and if this grooming is neglected, it can lead to messy situations.

Image source: Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center

In the case of Hidey the cat, her owner was unable to give her the grooming she needed, resulting in years of neglect. Hidey was in such a terrible state that the rescuer initially mistook her for a cat hidden under a blanket. He compared the situation to a scene from the sci-fi movie Alien. The man, who came to check on his elderly relative’s cat, was unaware of the existence of a second creature in the house. He couldn’t identify the mysterious animal lurking in the same dwelling.

“Out from under a bed it darted,” Paul Russell told PEOPLE. “At first I thought it was a cat that had a blanket on top of it. The next day I went into the creepy old cellar and it was hunkered in a corner. I thought, ‘My god this is a cat?!’ ”

Image source: Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center

Upon discovering Hidey, the 14-year-old neglected cat known for her hiding tendencies, a compassionate couple from Churchill, Pennsylvania, took both cats under their care. They then scheduled an appointment at the Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center, where the staff worked to remove the tangled fur that had accumulated over the course of several years on Hidey’s body.

The Russells, who gave the cat her name and mentioned that her previous owner has Alzheimer’s disease and is no longer aware of her surroundings, believe that the mats were partially caused by Hidey’s inability to properly groom herself due to her obesity. Since her rescue, Hidey has become a symbol, highlighting the importance of keeping an eye on the well-being of elderly individuals and their pets.

Image source: Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center

“The companionship of a pet can bring many positive benefits to the elderly, however, owning a pet is big responsibility,” said Dan Rossi, CEO of the Animal Rescue League Shelter. “If a family member, friend or neighbor has a pet, please help them to make sure there is a support system in place if the mental faculties begin diminishing.”

When Hidey was found, her owner had been moved to a nursing home because of Alzheimer’s disease. The rescuers brought her to the Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center in Pittsburgh to seek help. They believed that the unfortunate cat had been left behind and neglected for as long as two years, resulting in the formation of dreadlocks in her fur that reached a length of 6 to 8 inches.

Image source: Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center

Dr. Yaelen Levitzki, a veterinarian who assisted in the process of freeing Hidey from her tangled fur, captured the entire experience on a video shared on Facebook. She expressed, “I’ve never seen such extensive matting in a cat. Her fur had formed into dreadlocks.”

To make sure that the cat was comfortable throughout the procedure, Hidey was given sedation.

Image source: Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center

“She suffered from severe matting the likes of which had been neglected for years,” the shelter wrote. “Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body &, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now!”

Once freed from that burden, the cat was moved to live with a relative of his previous owner.

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.