Meri looks like a kitten though she is really about five to six years old. She weighs only five pounds, is missing part of her hind leg and one of her front paws is totally doubled back. There. Now you know almost everything you need to know about a special needs cat that needs a loving home.

“She is a little feral kitty. She lives in a colony,” Linda Patrick of the Scioto Area Humane Society said. “I have fed her in this colony for I think this is about the third winter.”

Patrick was finally able to capture the little black bundle of fur, named her Meri and has taken her to Wheelersburg Animal Hospital located on Ohio River Road.

“Her claws were just curled up around and around,” Patrick said. “I was able to get her over to the vet and they cut her nails. I have been told she has had numerous litters, but now she is spayed and has her shots.”

Patrick is looking for two things – donations to help defray her medical bills and a good home. Patrick said donations can be made at Wheelersburg Animal Hospital and the name of the account is the Scioto Area Humane Society.

“I want to help this little kitty. She’s a special needs kitty and she really needs a home,” Patrick said. “I put her on Facebook. I think I got one donation. I just don’t want her to have to survive out in this winter anymore. It’s horrible to watch her walk on that boney part of her front foot where the paw is bent totally back. Oh my, it’s sad.”

Patrick, who goes out every day and feeds cats in the colony made a special plea for someone who wants to give some TLC to this special needs cat.

“She is the tiniest most pitiful looking kitty and she needs a home,” Patrick said.