Cat who has 'never known life without suffering' breaks hearts across the world
On a bright, sunny day in August, a Bay Area, California, woman was driving along a highway and passed a massive pile of trash on the side of the road. But it wasn't the rubbish that caught her eye — it was "a bony orange butt sticking out."
She immediately turned around and went to investigate, documenting the entire experience on her TikTok, @jankycats. That's how Haley stumbled across Shambles.
The cat advocate, who eventually wants to open her own rescue one day, said she "had to go back for him" and rescue him from the pile of trash in which he resided.
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Haley took Shambles in and gave him shelter and love, sparking mass support on TikTok (@jankycats/TikTok)
A TikToker who advocates for cats rescued a malnourished orange 2-year-old named Shambles, who broke the internet's heart (@jankycats/TikTok)"He was so weak, starving, trying to eat trash," she said via on-screen captions on her TikTok. "But with injured paws, he could barely move. His paws were burned, degloving and rotting, along with many other life-threatening health issues."
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Degloving is a horrific condition in which the top layers of skin and tissue are torn away from underlying muscle, connective tissue or bone, according to Tampa General Hospital. In humans, it most commonly affects the legs, which become prone to underlying fractures. It can do the same to cats.
Haley added that Shambles, who is only about 2 years old, likely "wouldn't have lasted a few more days" in his condition. The remainder of the video showed her rescuing the young orange cat, providing him with food and shelter and taking him to the vet for assessment.
Throughout the heartwrenching footage, Haley can be seen gently scratching the cat's head, cuddling him and giving him the love he clearly deserved and hadn't gotten beforehand.
"He's likely never known a life without suffering," she concluded the TikTok, which was posted on August 3 and garnered over 759,000 likes and around 5.2 million views. "But he isn't done fighting."
Users flocked to the comments of the video to express their appreciation for what Haley had done for Shambles, with many commenting on the horrific condition he was found in.
"The fact his feet hurt and he’s still making the effort to get pets and love you," TikToker Lillian commented. "His poor tired eyes. He’s been through a lot in so little time," commented @subpar_diabetic.
A string of users requested an update video detailing Shambles' condition, which was finally granted on September 16. It was titled "shambles update (he is alive!)" and walked through the orange cat's journey from the time he was rescued.
A trip to the vet proved fruitful for the malnourished, severely injured Shambles. "We were able to resolve his severe anaemia, and his paws have fully healed," Haley wrote in on-screen captions.
But the vet was unable to do anything for the "lasting kidney damage" he accrued, likely from "having ingested something toxic outside while he was starving and desperately trying to eat trash."
"It breaks my heart thinking about him so hungry outside that he ate something that did this to his little body," Haley wrote. "This could've been prevented."
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After treatment, Shambles is finally doing somewhat better — but he still has lasting liver damage (@jankycats/TikTok)
Shambles was malnourished and had liver damage from eating toxic waste in a garbage pile (@jankycats/TikTok)She said it ultimately falls on humans to control the cat population and ensure its health. Cat owners should be spaying and neutering their felines to limit their chances of not only reproducing but also running away to live in the wild with other strays and suffer the same fate as Shambles.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) estimates there are anywhere between 60 and 100 million stray cats in America, most resulting from their human owners throwing them or their parents out onto the streets to fend for themselves. They had already been domesticated, so they aren't truly wild, but they're still feral.
Haley concluded her second video by promising a good life for Shambles: "I will do everything I can to make sure this boy gets to live many happy years to make up for his time suffering on the streets."
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