Cuddle Cat Rescue: Emergency Medical Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The money was used for intravenous fluids, rehabilitation therapy, laser therapy, femoral head and neck ostectomy surgery, and associated pain medications that go along with that procedure.
It helped to defray the significant cost of surgery and aftercare for this cat who came into the rescue in a very injured state, thereby saving money for the rescue to be allocated toward other pets.
How many pets did this grant help?
1
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Natasha has almost made a complete recovery and is about ready to be placed up for adoption. She came in from a car accident and could not move for about an entire week due to the pain and four pelvic fractures. They also found evidence of birdshot in her radiograph. We had to put her on gabapentin, a powerful morphine derivative, and a fentanyl patch while assist-feeding her and providing subcutaneous fluids twice daily for that entire week.
Natasha started walking around week three and using a normal litter box around week four. It took her nearly four whole weeks to reliably use the litter box due to the pain of assuming the posture needed to urinate or defecate. We provided calming music, birds on a television set, remote laser light and remote viewing to make sure she was recovering correctly, and more to ensure the best point of care.
After her four pelvic fractures healed following the car accident, we got her the FHO surgery she needed to remove the fractured femoral head, since having that left in could result in arthritis for the rest of her life. She still has a slight limp on week 7 of the recovery process, but her condition was really bad so it will take longer. She can now run and climb, working up to jumping. She loves to play with catnip bananas, trackball toys, the cat charmer, and more.
Natasha is currently in foster care for the remainder of her rehabilitation plan. She is being kept in a 150-square-foot room so structured exercise regimens can be followed without overexerting her at this point, until she has made a full recovery. Then she will go up for adoption, in about five weeks. She is a very sweet cat and loves to cuddle. She would never have had the privilege of having this procedure performed without the assistance of the emergency medical grant provided by the Petfinder Foundation.
