Summery: Rare breed stray cat lives under school yard shed for atleast 4 days before 8 year old boy rescues her to find out she has a life threatening disease that requires expensive life saving treatment.

*Please see our updates on Lulu's progress at the bottom of our story. Thanks!

Hello, my name is Summer. I am a mother of two boys and several pets with amazing, loving hearts. I am also a substitute teacher, volunteer, and PTA VP at my children's elementary school. My love for children, animals, and building strong communities is why I am sharing my story about a sweet kitty named Lulu.

Lulu came to us after spending several days hiding under the shed of our school's play yard. I was volunteering in the cafeteria at the end of that week, and as each group of children came into the cafeteria from recess, the room was abuzz with stories about this little black cat. Of course, I told all the kids to leave her be and that she was probably just lost from her family. If you are reading this story and have a student at our school, please ask them if they remember her from Friday's recess just before Labor Day weekend.

After school, my youngest son, age 8, being who he is (we have reunited many lost pets with their families in the past), took it upon himself to take care of this lost kitty. Spending all afternoon coaxing her out of her hiding spot and carrying her home into the house beaming while holding her.

I cautioned him, and observed and examined her. She is all black, with little to no special markings to identify her, and big, beautiful bright yellow eyes. She is extremely kind with a mild manner. I felt she was safe for him to be holding her and to bring her into our home. We have a finished basement with a stairway door to keep her separate from our other animals in our home. I allowed my son to look after her until we found her family and went to work searching all the online platforms for a match.

By this time, my oldest son, age 11, came home from school (he is now attending middle school) and he instantly fell in love with the kitty himself. In fact, a whole group of children from our street were all at my home gently looking after her and encouraging my youngest son to name her, and he decided to call her Lulu. She was quickly capturing their hearts, and mine.

In the meantime, I was trying to reach out to every family missing a black cat in the area, but this kitty didn't belong to any of them. Later that evening, after realizing she was going to need a safe place to sleep, I decided to take her to a pet hospital and have her scanned for a chip and determine her sex, hopeful that this would be the best way to find her family. They let me know that she was female, had no chip, a slightly damaged ear tip (we don't think it is a TNRV ear notching/tipping, but it is possible), and a broken K9 tooth. The doctor also shared that she felt she was a fairly young cat and most likely has been homeless. She encouraged me to take her in and was hopeful that her kind and gentle demeanor would make it easy for her to join our family and get along with the other animals living in our home. We have a two-year-old German Shepherd named Nova who is kind to cats and an older cat (somewhat grumpy but mostly sweet) named Bailey who lost her sister several years ago due to kidney failure.

I brought Lulu back home from the hospital and we made her comfortable until the morning when I went back to work doing my research on what to do next. The hospital recommended a vet visit ASAP. Unfortunately, this all happened on Labor Day weekend, so our vet was closed for several days, as were many others.

We also noticed that Lulu was visiting the litter box very often and lingering there for long periods of time. Although we were happy to see that she understands using the box, this worried us. Together we decided she needed to see a vet right away and so back to the emergency hospital I went. After a very long day of waiting, testing, and shelling out a hefty hospital bill of $850, we learned that Lulu has Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) requiring lifelong treatment and special care.

We are now facing the reality of taking in a stray. This disease was most likely caused by having an inconsistent, poor diet due to being homeless. She will need expensive prescription food for the rest of her life and special accommodations to keep her hydrated and to break up the crystals in her urinary tract that could cause bladder stones or blockages. Lulu will also need regular vet check-ups, and will need to be spayed, chipped, and vaccinated, and have her tooth fixed very soon, and most likely will require other care we are not yet aware of. All of which will add up to being very costly, very quickly. We are able and willing to take on these costs, although it will be difficult for us in these first few months, especially with the holidays approaching, to make ends meet while paying for the procedures and extra purchases we will need to make.

We hope that our community can help us to give Lulu the home and care she needs so our boys' amazing, loving hearts may continue to care for this kitty that has quickly become their best friend. We want nothing but to bring joy to our children and nurture their love for animals.

If you are able to spare even a little money, will you please consider sharing to this fund so we can help Lulu thrive? She is a precious girl who deserves a long, safe, and healthy life with humans who love her dearly.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

The Lajoie family

Update 8/31/25: Lulu seems to be doing better today. She loves her special food and is taking her medicine like a champ. She is less lethargic today and even played for a brwif moment with one of the dozens of cat toys that our kids have given her.

Additionally, we just learned that Lulu is a rare breed called Bombay! They are extremely kind, intelligent and loyal creatures that require special living conditions and care. We are excited to learn more about Bombays so we can make Lulu more comfortable in our home.

Update 9/2/2025: Lulu is doing great! She is fitting right in with all our family members and is LOVING her prescription food (not the anyibiotics I have to seeing into her mouth, but only 2 more days of that!) And is drinking a lot of water! Which is super good because all the special food and water is helping to break up the crystals that have formed in her tiny bladder. She sleeps with Arlo very night and is exploring the house by day (monitored of course.) We have a vet appointment soon to get her shots, spay and microchip and have her broken tooth examined. We will let you know how it goes! Thank you all so much for your support!

Update 9/28: Lulu is thriving! She LOVES her new special food and has gained over a pound since we rescued her last month. She no longer needs antibiotics and the insect bites and other minor wounds have all healed nicely. She is now fully vacationated but still needs dental work to fix both her K9s and to be spayed, but our vet says we can spread out the procedures to minimize her stress.

Her and our older kitty Bailey are starting to get use to each other and Lulu is now able to roam freely through the house every night and is slowly getting opportunities to do the same during the day when we are all at work or school. There has been a few bad scuffles between them but it has been expected and fortunately they haven't hurt eachother badly. We feel Lulu is just interested in Bailey and Bailey is just a big scardy cat and needs time to get use to there being another cat in the house. Fortunately, Lulu is extremely docile and has never scratched or bitten anyone except Bailey when they fight like this.

She seems to be very happy with her new home and isn't very interested in going back outside, which is good because the vet says she must be an indoor kitty for the rest of her days due to her medical condition. She spends most of her time napping in a comfy chair, or perched in one of our windows. She is very smart and easy to train, which is good because she learned to be a scavenger while she was homeless and she tries to get on the counters and tables to find food. The spray bottle has ben our best tool to teach her not to do that, she is catching on quickly.

Lulu can have special formulated treats and we are using them to reward her for her good behavior. She also loves being pet and brushed and being played with. She is a sweetheart and continues to love hard on her favorite human in the house. She sleeps on Arlo's bed often when he isn't home and comes running to him when he walks in the door. Arlo takes pride in helping to care for her and does a great job feeding her and scooping her liter box. All in all Lulu is doing great and we are very happy she has become part of of our family. I will keep her Gofundme open through the holidays and make another post again the fall. Thank you to everyone who has checked in on her and helped support her special needs!