Carolina Cat Rescue: Senior Pet Adoption Assistance Grant Report

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

Belle is a senior kitty with thyroid issues and anemia. The grant funds were used to help get her adopted by discounting her adoption fee to zero and assisting the adopter with the first year of food and vet care. The funding was used for:

Adoption fee subsidy - $65
Methimazole - $40.15
B12 injectable - $7.99
100 ml of subcutaneous fluids - 6 bags $63.54
Food:
Royal Canin Renal + HP dry food - 4 bags $200
Royal Canin renal wet food - 6 orders - $250
Forza10 renal wet - 6 orders - $331
Two vet visits and bloodwork - $524

Belle had been up for adoption for six months with no interest at the time we applied for the grant. It helped Belle by spurring more interest in her and finding her a home. It helped our organization by adopting out a senior kitty whose cost of care was very expensive to the organization.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

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

Belle started showing up (off and on) on my outdoor cameras in November 2019. She would run when I would try to talk to her, but I could tell she was not feral. She had been seen around my neighborhood for months and I’d always receive the same answer when I asked about her: “I think someone is caring for her.” My husband was able to get her to come to him in March 2020 and I scooped her up into a cat carrier and put her in the bathroom adjoining my foster room. The next day, off to the vet she went. The next six months we spent getting her medically stable thanks to Dr. Sanders at Purr and Bark in Raleigh, N.C.

On intake, she was all bones. Her ears were full of yeast, bacteria, and mites and were very painful to her. She was diagnosed with a urinary-tract infection that had likely spread to her kidneys. Her kidney values were high on her bloodwork. She had a leg injury or deformity. She had a mass at the base of her tail that could be infection, could be arthritis. She had thin hair from fleas and lack of nourishment. She was estimated to be 12 years old. She spent two weeks in the vet hospital receiving fluids, antibiotics, ear medication, and TLC. All she did was sleep. The vet and her staff described her as loving and a great patient.

When I brought her home to foster care, I learned how loving she was. She purred non-stop and wanted nothing more than to be near me and sit on my lap or lie on my chest. She got great comfort from a soft bed with a pet heating pad underneath. She drank nearly non-stop and had a good appetite. I told her daily, her ordeal was over, she was no longer unwanted or lost, she was a Carolina Cat now and would be taken care of.

We thought once we had the UTI and other medical conditions resolved, she would either go up for adoption or transport to our partner in New Hampshire for adoption. We have a pretty long wait for elderly pets to get adopted in N.C., but in N.H. they find homes rather quickly.

So she continued getting daily antibiotics, eye drops, and ear drops. She had a pet heating pad to lay her aching body on. She had soft food and plenty of fresh water. Then she went in for her next round of bloodwork and that is when we learned she had hyperthyroidism. Okay, we would get that under control and find her a home. Well, it wasn’t that simple: The hyperthyroidism was masking chronic kidney disease, so we had yet another hurdle to overcome.

After several months of trying various dosages and medications, special food, and bloodwork, and working closely with out vet, we finally found a regimen that works for her. She receives subcutaneous fluids twice a week, B12 injections twice a week, B-complex daily, methimazole twice a day, and prescription renal food. Her bloodwork was finally somewhat stable, although she was still mildly anemic.

Belle had been up for adoption for six months with no interest at the time we applied for the grant. We suspected that the cost of ongoing care was holding back potential adopters. With the funding, we were able to waive her adoption fee and purchase approximately six months worth of food and medical supplies for new family. She was adopted in February and is very happy to be the only pet in her new home.