Neena came to our rescue by way of a kill shelter in Palestine, Tx when our webmaster was contacted in mid-October by an "Animal Shelter" there who claimed they had a special needs cat that had been surrendered to them whose "back legs did not work", and subsequently were unable to get her adopted out.

The shelter rep informed us that they did not have the funds or the means in which to provide medical attention or even get her spayed and forewarned us that they are a kill shelter and that her time had run out.

When first emailed by the shelter in Palestine we were told that this cat was paralyzed in the hind quarters and after our director contacted the shelter rep she was told that the cat had been "born that way".

Because getting a clear as history as we can on previous caregiver/s and living conditions is very important to us, we asked if we could contact the individual(s) who surrended the cat. We were first told that there was no contact information available, but then later, after several phone calls between our director and webmaster and this shelter in an effort to find out more background information on the cat, it was finally discovered that the cat had been "surrendered" by a guard at a Palestine prison.

First we were led to believe a series of unassuming situations such as the cat had been an office cat or the cat had been roaming around and was promptly retrieved and placed with the animal shelter. However, as we delved further into our investigation we uncovered horrific details about Neena's case and discovered where she had previously been living. Incredulously, we learned that Neena had been kept hidden by one or more inmates at the prison.

Now comes to light her history as we were slowly able to piece together between medical exams and interviews. While Neena had been at the vet clinic several medications were tried in attempts to help her have bowel movements as she was unable to defecate. X-rays showed she had old lateral breaks in both rear legs along with damage to her spine about three quarters of the way down her back right in the area where the nerves which control the ability to urinate and defecate are located.

While the vet was attempting to help Neena with his professional knowledge and experience, we at Catz Jazz attempted to learn anything we could about her past which was no easy feat as previously mentioned.

The prisoners are not supposed to have animals at the prison for obvious reasons, but unsuspecting kittens and possibly friendly cats wander onto the grounds and are caught by the inmates and this has apparently been going on for years while guards turned a blind eye at this prison. We learned that guards and prison administration have known about this for a long time.

At some point Neena had been caught as a kitten, and had been severely injured after being subjected to acts of brutality by the inmate(s) and both Neena's back legs were broken as later x-rays from our vet clearly show a lateral break on both femurs which can only occur from a purposeful act as the breaks are in a straight line with one another such as a very heavy door closing on the legs or a heavy straight edged object slammed down on the legs.

Prompted by our appalling discoveries, we immediately arranged for transport for Neena so she could come into our rescue.

We also learned (as if her other injuries and abuse had not been enough indignities for Neena to endure), that sometime within the 4-6 month range (and possibly more recent to when she was rescued) her back was stomped on by at least one inmate (this was admitted to by a guard who spoke with Catz Jazz).

We just had to get her to us asap, so one of our amazing volunteers was gracious enough to drive there to Palestine and back to Austin (almost 400 miles) to save this girl and get her to us.

She arrived to our care on Saturday, Oct. 30,2010.

On Monday Nov. 1,2010 we had her into the vet for a complete exam to include a CBC and x-rays of her back legs and spine. She stayed at the general vet for 11 days before it was decided that she needed the expertise of specialists as paralysis of her rear legs was not her main issue.

The lateral breaks to her rear legs and spine were old breaks, most likely happening when she was still a kitten when the bones are still growing and they fused together giving her a stiff gait but without the ability to jump which with this evidence we actually believe was the intent to begin with as the person who had her was hiding her from prison personnel and what better way to do so than to harm her in such a way so that she could not easily move about.

It is our belief that when she was stomped on, this caused the nerve damage making it impossible for her to be able to have bowel movements. This is a condition known as Megacolon and causes much discomfort for Neena and any one animal or human suffering from it.

This bowel disorder is described as that the colon of the cat is chronically dilated or enlarged because the nerves in the colon do not function properly, in this case aquired through trauma.

Some symptoms of Megacolon are distended abdomen, nausea, straining to defecate (tenesmus), painful defecation (dyschezia), and rectal prolapse. Neena has been afflicted with injuries and conditions that will cause her lifelong obstacles to endure.

Additionally, our vet believes that during the time that Neena was growing from a kitten to an adult cat she was fed only people food, and minimally enough to just keep her alive, which severely lacks the proper nutrients and supplements kittens need for proper growth. Most important of these is Taurine for proper bone/teeth development so she gets a double whammy as her legs are compromised with the abuse and without Taurine she now not only has dense bones but her entire skeletal frame is much smaller than is would normally be with proper nutrition. Also lacking were essential vitamins and plain ol' sunshine, both which are vital to proper growth during the kitten stage that Neena was deprived of. This sweet baby girl had to endure over a year of abuse, pain and discomfort in this condition as we know she never had any vet care.

Now come the specialists. On November 11, 2010 our rescue director took Neena to Dr. Bill Campbell a wonderful vet in the Austin area for over 30 years who promptly referred Neena to Capital Area Veterinary Specialists (CAVS). Neena then had her first appointment with internal medicine specialist, Dr. Courtney North (VMD, DACVIM) on Nov.12, 2010.

While both Dr. Campbell and Dr, North did not paint a very rosy picture for Neena we felt that for once in her life she needed people to care about her so we decided to give her the best chance we could.

This attempt has been on-going and Dr. Campbell and Dr. North suggested and agreed upon treatment for Neena thus far is medical management. Basically, this consists of several medications in attempts to help her bowels move since the source of her constipation is neurologic in origin (due to the stomping on her back). She has also undergone a procedure wherein the doctor sedated Neena and manually milked the colon and intestines to remove impacted feces. This procedure will most likely have to be repeated as the meds are not reliable as of yet.

This sweet cat, prior to our intervention, had only known abuse and pain. This is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty we have been faced with.

Anyone who would do these terrible things to a helpless animal is scum, but the fact that prison officials knowingly allowed such heinous acts of cruelty to go on just angers us beyond what words can express. Those people should equally be put behind bars where we feel they also belong.

This beautiful cat was subjected to over a year of repeated torture and if she had not been retrieved by a guard there, her abuse would be continuing on today. Furthermore, the investigation to uncover the truth about Neena's background was at times frustrating due to people's apathy or disinterest, or simply being cowards and not stepping forward to help us learn more.
Perhaps the officials were embarassed to let any story get out about the animal abuse that goes on at their prison. We were told by a guard that there is new management there and that things are "going to change", but we take little comfort in that statement knowing that it wasn't just one person who withheld information; many people there know about this abuse and HAVE KNOWN and have done nothing in the past, so why would they now. Whatever their reasons were, it is downright shameful that these people do not care about the life of an innocent animal enough to have ever prevented this from happening to Neena in the first place. It is incredibly sad that similar acts of brutality likely continue... as far as we know nothing has changed at this prison.

Our veteran staff, volunteers and doctors have seen terrible cases of animal abuse over the years, but this case was one of the worst and has brought many of them to tears.

So far, Neena's condition has improved. We are doing everything to ensure she gets a good quality of life these days.

Her mood has improved dramatically, and we named her Neena, which is a Native American word meaning strong/strength because of her amazing strength of character and ability to survive such horrendous conditions. The addition of one med has resulted in a small bowel movement (Yeah!!) so we have made some progress and will keep at it as long as Neena has good spirits which she so amazingly does. She is a sweet, alert, playful, funny cat who sleeps curled up next to her mom (Director Cathy Taylor). So far in just the short time we have had her in our care and as of today Neena's medical costs alone have exceeded $2000.00. This amount does not include purchasing specialty food for her instead of being able to feed her the cat food already on hand although that is really inconsequential in the big picture. We are still paying out on the previous medical expenses as well as the on-going costs to ensure her proper medical care.

Also, as part of her recovery, Neena is recieving weekly acupuncture treatments @ $55.00 each from Dr. Elaine Caplan to help stimulate her bowels as well as to help ease the discomfort in the rear legs from the fused bones. We are told it will take 8-12 sessions before there is evidence if this is helping her, though during the sessions she tolerates it quite well so we are hopeful this is a sign it is helping.

Neena is a special, beautiful cat that we hope people will honor, respect and be willing to share her story. Now Neena has become a survivor. Her focus is on her recovery, not her abuse. While Neena's story is heartbreaking, this cat is a symbol of courage and remarkable strength, but most of all innocence.

Neena is so deserving of all the help we can offer her and we hope there are folks out there who feel the same way and will help Neena along her journey, as we can't do this alone.

We have created Neena's Survivor Recovery Fund for people who want to help her down the road to recovery.

If you would like to make a donation for Neena, you can send a donation by PayPal or mail and we will list your name on this page as part of Neena's supporters. Contributions can be made towards Neena's Survivor Recovery Fund c/o Catz Jazz. We also gratefully accept items from our wishlist. Thank you so much for helping Neena.

To help Neena, please send donations to: Neena's Survivor Recovery Fund Riverside Vet Clinic 2400 E. Oltorf St., Suite 10 A Austin, Tx. 78741 Please Make checks out to Neena/Catz Jazz Checks can also be sent to our rescue headquarters: Neena's Survivor Recovery Fund c/o Catz Jazz Rescue 170 Marjess Dr. Cedar Creek, Tx. 78612 Please make checks out to Catz Jazz. All donations are tax deductable.

You can also make a Donation of ANY amount to Neena's Survivor Recovery Fund using Paypal Use this button to Donate a $500 Big Heart Medical Sponsorship for Neena Donations can also be made in person during adoption days at Lakeline Petsmart ACROSS From Lakeline Mall, near Best Buy. Meet Catz Jazz Rescue Every Sat/Sun from 12-5pm! 11066 Pecan Park Blvd, Cedar Park, Tx 78613 Any amount is sincerely appreciated, thank you so much!

All donations are tax-exempt, we are a registered 501(c) (3) charity recognized by the IRS. We do not have paid staff; all administrative duties and hands-on work are performed by volunteers. Expenses incurred for our volunteers to fulfill administrative activities like fund raising, public relations, marketing, website and hosting services as well as hands-on work such as transporting animals, promoting animal welfare, fostering and 24 hour care are funded out of pocket by each volunteer. Every dollar contributed to Catz Jazz Rescue is applied directly in fulfilling our mission statement – to provide safety, shelter, veterinary care, medical rehabilitation and socialization for abandoned or abused cats (and sometimes dogs) until good permanent homes can be found for them. We cannot be a success without the encouragement of compassionate people who are committed to providing financial assistance and support to help us continue our work.