Ben is a good-looking orange-and-white male, about 9 years of age (as of 1/2009). He’s new to Tabby’s Place as of October, 2008. While Ben loves other cats, he’s very scared of people at present. He’s especially close to roommate, Geri, so much so that, at least for now, the two MUST be adopted together.

As one of our Special Needs crew, Ben has some medical issues. He’s in early renal failure. As is often the case with people, his renal failure may stay in it’s current stage for a long time, or it may progress more quickly; there’s no way to know. Ben also has entropion, a condition in which the hair follicles of the eyelids can grow inwards so that they rub against the cornea. Right now, Ben’s entropion isn’t bad; he’ll be re-evaluated in a few months to see if surgery is required (because of his renal failure, we’re very cautious about operating on him).

We know that Ben is less likely to be adopted than many other cats here, but we’re hoping that he’ll settle down with time.

Update: Ben’s kidney disease has progressed to the point that he needs fluid therapy to support his kidneys. Unfortunately, Ben has also been diagnosed with heart failure for which he requires medication. It is difficult to find a balance between treating both his heart and his kidneys, but thus far Ben has been tolerating his treatments well. If this continues to be the case he may do well for many more months.