New Fairfield Sherman Animal Welfare: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

We used the $250 towards our veterinary expenses for two very special kitties. The amount covered their medications.

We had multiple veterinary emergencies and two were eye surgeries that we were unable to raise enough funds to cover the expenses for. The $250 was a godsend. Our donations have been down and people are doing their best with goods in-kind. Fairfield, a little kitten who came to us at 3 weeks old and just 1 lb., had an infected eye that was swollen. This was a serious infection needing special care.

We also had a kitty, Ferguson, with damaged eyelids who needed surgery as soon as possible. In normal times, we would have raised the funds for these two kitties, but both came to us after March 17. Ferguson and Fairfield had long-term medication needs and thankfully the fund covered both!

How many pets did this grant help?

One

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Fairfield is a baby kitten who came to us at 3 weeks old. He had a swollen eyeball and was very underweight. He needed constant care and one of our volunteers worked very hard to keep him comfortable and provided him with the care he needed. He started to gain weight and, although still underweight, he was playing and purring as if everything was okay.

We knew this kitten needed special care, especially since the eye wasn’t getting better. The cost of surgery to remove the eye was very expensive and we knew that, with funding down, this was going to be an extreme hardship. This kitten was a survivor and we wanted to work hard to help him survive. The funds provided helped us pay for his care by covering his medications.

He is now 8 weeks old and his eye may not have to be removed after all. With the careful care he has received, we are hopeful that this little one will have a healthy future. He may be blind, but he also may not have to go through a very delicate surgery.

Sometimes one animal needs us more, and we are thankful that we received the grant to help him. To think, he was near death and is now thriving! He will soon have a home in which he is surrounded with the love he deserves! If Fairfield could speak, he would say, “Thank you, Petfinder Foundation, for giving me a chance!”