After the tragic death of A. Ignatavičiūtė, her five cats were left homeless and ended up at “Grinda”. However, their fate was changed by Aistė’s friend Bernadeta, who agreed to take all five animals.
When asked how she decided to take in the cats, Bernadeta told the portal Žmonės.lt that the idea came to her immediately upon learning about Aistė’s loss.
“I knew Aistė indirectly, we only communicated online, but for many years, I consulted with her a lot about the cats’ health, treatment, medications, and so on. And simply, when I saw the news that Aistė was gone and her cats were left homeless, I made the decision without hesitation. I believe she would have wanted those cats not to be scattered one by one to unknown places or disappear without a trace. I think she trusted that someone among the people who knew her would take responsibility, and since there were no other people, I made the decision to take the cats. My plan is that they will stay with me as my cats. They were Aistė’s, and now they will be mine,” Bernadeta told Žmonės.lt.
According to her, all the animals have already undergone examinations, and it turned out that although their lives are not in danger, there are many health problems.
“The cats were examined at the clinic, tests were done, their condition is stable, there are definitely many health issues, but for now, they are not in danger; there are just doctor’s prescriptions on what needs to be done. It’s still too early to say more about their character because they were only brought to Kaunas yesterday morning, so to tell more, I need to spend more time with them,” said the animal-loving woman.
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According to her, two male cats are estimated by doctors to be about 15 years old, possibly even older. Two others are also seniors over 10 years old, and only one female cat is three years old.
“They have chronic problems, but it is suspected that they were without food for a long time, possibly without water, and such things leave serious consequences. Liver parameters are elevated, the boys have very poor urine tests; it is orange in color, with a lot of bilirubin and protein. The doctor says it seems they did not urinate for several days before the urine was taken. Some have inflammation, so they will receive antibiotics, and almost all have been prescribed follow-up tests after seven days,” Bernadeta shared.
It is no secret that the owner’s death was a great trauma for the animals. According to the woman, it especially affected one cat.
“Three kittens are completely good, affectionate, they cuddle with everyone, can be picked up, and want attention. One kitten is simply afraid and alone, the oldest one, who does not want to be petted or picked up and bites. But this is not character; it is a consequence of what happened to them recently. Cats are not objects; they understood they were left without an owner, and we do not know how long they spent there with the deceased Aistė without food or water, not knowing what would happen to them, and then ended up in a completely unfamiliar environment at such an age. This is not character; it is just that he experienced huge stress, and this is the reaction. How long it will take for him to open up, only the future will show,” Bernadeta told Žmonės.lt.
The woman admitted that after the news spread that she would take the cats, this decision received quite a few negative comments.
“For now, I would not want to ask for any support because when I wrote a public comment that I would take those cats, I did it completely without thinking that it would be taken as some kind of advertisement. I just found out that Aistė was gone, and I immediately said I would take all the cats, and there was a very negative reaction from some of Aistė’s friends, saying I shouldn’t take them, that it would be better if they stayed at ‘Grinda’, that I was doing it for self-promotion, that I wanted to collect support this way… Although those women themselves also have their shelters, so if they cared so much about the cats, they could have simply distributed them one by one, but when I called ‘Grinda’, they told me many people inquired about them, but there was not a single offer, and the staff were not optimistic at all; they did not think those cats had a chance to find homes. But I think I will not take or ask for any support because I am doing this not for that, but only for Aistė and her cats,” Bernadeta concluded her conversation with Žmonės.lt.
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