Justice for Miriam

Miriam came to us originally in the early part of 2021. She was a petite little thing, shy but sweet as can be. At 13 years old, she found herself in a WV shelter at risk for euthanasia. 

During the time Miriam spent with us before adoption, we discovered that she had a thyroid issue. Hyperthyroidism, to be exact. I will link a the bottom of this section so that you can learn more about what that means, but in short, Miriam needed daily medication in order to survive. 

The rest of Miriam's story can be summed up best by one of our volunteers, who wrote the following:

"You adopted her from us 2 years ago. You knew that she was on thyroid medication. You knew she was a senior that needed more than a “normal” cat. We discussed her daily medication, that she needed blood work and that it would be detrimental to her health if she did not receive care under the direction of the doctor. Things were fine for a year. Fine-ish. You were ignorant and needed to be educated to appropriately care for a senior cat on medications and that is understandable.

It got worse but you seemed to really love her and you just needed more hand holding. We sent reminders, checked in and scheduled appointments. In March you brought her in for a “wellness exam”.  She wasn't doing well. She  was down in weight and we said we needed to make some medication adjustments and see her back in 2 weeks, no matter what. We moved the schedule around and squeezed you in because she was important and we were going to make it work to get her appropriate care. You canceled that appointment the day before she was supposed to come in. 

A month and half later you emailed asking for a refill of her thyroid medication and we explained to you that she needed to come in to recheck her lab work. You never brought her in or answered the email. 

A month after that you said that she had been off her thyroid medication for about a week and she wasn’t doing well. You said you were having financial issues and unable to bring her in at the time but if we could just refill 1 month of medication you would bring her in after that to recheck her lab work. We refilled the medication because she needed it and explained that she would need to come in before we filled anymore after that. 

One week later you came to pick up her thyroid medication. Two hours after you picked up the thyroid medication you called and said that she wasn’t eating, moving or responding. We said that you needed to bring her in immediately. 

You had your brother bring her in at the time of us closing the clinic. It was said that she had been off of thyroid medication for one month. One month without her thyroid medication that was keeping her alive. She was down more than 2lbs, completely emaciated, lateral, cold and unresponsive. “She was fine yesterday.”We immediately began life saving efforts and called you repeatedly to talk to you about her condition. You eventually answered and had been in the car the whole time we were fighting to save her. 

At our demand that you relinquish her back to the rescue to save her you didn’t bat an eye. Just signed the relinquishment form. You didn’t bat an eye the entire time we explained that she was actively dying and just sat with her. At the very end of sitting with her for around an hour, you then cried and said to your brother that you guys would likely not see her again. 

We took her home. Kathi and I. Had her stay in our bathtub and she received around the clock care. She came back and forth to work with her 2 IV pumps and 1 liquid nutrition pump that was administering food through a nasogastric tube. 24 hours a day she received care.  

She slowly got stronger and gained a little weight over 2 weeks. Her eyes were sunken and she was so sick that she developed an upper respiratory infection and conjunctivitis. She had eye medication put into her eyes that then caused corneal melting ulcers and she needed even more care and a specialist visit. She would have likely developed the ulcers even if she wasn’t as sick as she was but if she wasn’t in the shape that she was to begin with, she wouldn’t have needed the upper respiratory medication. 

2 weeks and 3 days after she was relinquished back into our care she was eventually to the point where there may have been a light at the end of the tunnel. She still had eye issues but her ophthalmologist said they would likely be healed in a week's time. She was using the litter box 85-90% of the time because she was finally strong enough to hold her weight and coordinated enough to get in the box. She was walking more and eating more regularly. We had her scheduled for physical therapy to work on getting her muscle mass increased because she was finally at the point where she could do it. 

That day we lost her. We were at work late and providing life saving care for 4 neonate kittens. She threw up twice and then stopped breathing. Doing CPR did nothing. She had likely thrown a clot. 

Her name was Miriam. Her name was Miriam and if you would have provided adequate care, there is a likelihood that she would still be with us today. You were ignorant but no one is that ignorant to not know that she was dying long before she came into us the day she was relinquished. You didn’t have money to pay for her thyroid medication that was 60 dollars or her blood work that she needed to make sure she was being supplemented properly but you apparently had enough money to pay for an attorney for the trial today.  

The Commonwealth of Virginia decided that it wasn’t worth it to pursue Miriam’s case and you made a plea deal. No more animals being adopted for the next year and you get to keep the other cat you adopted from us. The court system has failed us and more importantly has failed Miriam. 

Nothing that could have happened today could bring Miriam back or make things better. Nothing could make it better for Miriam but knowing that you showed no remorse for the loss of our Miriam and knowing that you get to keep our other cat is what really gets me. 

No cat should ever have to go through anything nearly as bad as what Miriam went through and you deserve nothing good in the world. We will not be dropping this. She was ours before she was yours and she is still ours now."

We are the voice for the voiceless. Animal neglect IS abuse. Especially when it comes in the form of withholding medication that you KNOW your animal needs to survive.

We have created a few designs to help promote our #MiriamStrong campaign and bring awareness not only to her specific case, but more cases like hers. Proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go directly toward the costs incurred while trying to save her life. Any overage will go toward fighting in her name. 

We have posted many thing on Facebook and Instagram about Miriam. Please take the time to visit our pages and learn more about this sweet girl and the absolute tragedy that befell her. 

We have been asked several times how to contribute directly in Miriam's name. Please click the button below to make a donation in her honor.