CLEVELAND — Two kittens in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood are on the mend after someone shot them a few months ago.

I first introduced you to Olive and Mae’s story back in October.

Two kittens shot dead in West Park, suspect still at large

RELATED: Two kittens shot dead in West Park, suspect still at large

Mae was reportedly shot twice and Olive once.

Olive underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments and some tissue. She came out with 39 stitches in her back.

“They received more medical care last week than I did this year. It’s so hard to watch them because they’re not able to move around as much as a little kitten would,” Olive and Mae’s caregiver, Kelly Peoples, previously said. “We have a very close-knit neighborhood. We are all friends. Great families looking out for each other. Our pet sitter is the family across the street. We care about each other. I was just shocked and sickened that this could happen in my neighborhood.

People expected an extremely long road to recovery.

However, Olive and Mae heal much more quickly than Peoples could have imagined.

“So much better.” So much better than we could have expected. Both girls are doing very well,” she added. “They are both very friendly, very inquisitive, inquisitive and love to play.”

Mae still has some mobility issues and Peoples is waiting to hear from the vet if she can keep her back leg.

“Obviously I’m not a veterinarian and I can’t make that judgment, but she’s doing great and there’s no stopping her. She climbs really high, which maybe I shouldn’t say, but she does it really well,” Peoples added.

The last time we saw Olive, part of her back was shaved and stitches covered her. She also wore a donut around her head.

Olive no longer has a donut and the hair on her back is growing back in different shades of lavender.

“Seeing them every day, everyday life seemed like a lot of time, especially the first stages of recovery were very, very difficult. We spoon-fed each other. We have had a problem with the collar several times. Olive managed to wiggle her protective collar almost into a tutu. Lots of trips back to the vet for help with these things. But it’s amazing, in a month, to see how much they’ve recovered and how resilient they are,” Peoples said.

Getting to this point in the recovery process cost $8,000, but with the help of Kamm’s Cat Guardians, it was all paid for.

Following our coverage in October, Kamm’s Cat Guardians said donations were pouring in.

“We got about $3,000 in donations, which really helped because we spent about $8,000 on all the emergency and intensive care they need. It really, really helped and we appreciated the donations,” said Kamm’s Cat Guardians board member Annette Piechowski.

These private donations went towards the follow-up care of the two kittens as well as Kamm’s Cat Guardians savings account.

“It was quite unique. We’ve had other situations where we stuck people with an injured cat or a sick cat that we had helped and we stayed with them until the end,” Piechowski said.

The organization still checks in with Olive and Mae once a week.

The final piece of this puzzle of heart and hope now involves finding the person who shot Olive and Mae.

Peoples said a Cleveland detective went door to door in her neighborhood to inquire about what happened, but Peoples said that was the last time she saw anyone of the department.

The Cleveland Police Department told me they had no updates on this case to share this week.

“Honestly, it’s scary because I’m curious, was this the first time? Have they already done it? What is their next target? asked Peoples. “I can’t believe they would do this to two tiny kittens weighing less than four pounds. I mean, so small and defenseless. How could this happen and be so close to a school. It also makes me very worried about children playing, people walking their dogs. Many people enjoy the area. I’d hate to think they might be in danger too.

Fliers asking who shot the two men were posted throughout the West Park neighborhood.

“I just wish to God he gets caught and I hope all the publicity we put out in the neighborhood makes that person squirm,” Piechowski said.

If you have any information, email the Cleveland detective assigned to the case, Michael Smith at [email protected].

Kamm’s Cat Guardians continues to ask for donations. If you are interested in donating, CLICK HERE.

“I’m just grateful to my neighborhood and my community for coming together to support me and my boyfriend Kevin who couldn’t be here right now. To support us during this time, not just financially and medically as Kamm’s cat guardians and West Park Animal Hospital did, but my immediate neighbors, the people from the surrounding streets who helped search for the cats when they were missing, stopped to offer encouragement. simply amazing to see what our neighborhood did and I can’t say enough good things about Kamm’s Cat Guardians. We couldn’t have done this without their help,” Peoples said.