SPEAK, Incorporated: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report

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

This money was used for medical treatment of our sanctuary cats.

Our shelter has been closed to the public since the start of the coronavirus. We have still been conducting adoptions; however, they are only for people serious about adopting and we set up an appointment time to come meet the cat/kitten they are interested in. We only send home cats who are healthy, and a few weeks ago, an upper-respiratory infection swept through the sanctuary. Almost every cat under our care, between 15-20 cats, had signs of an upper-respiratory infection and had to be on medication. This grant allowed us to be able to treat each cat appropriately so that we could get them adopted.

How many pets did this grant help?

20

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

One of the cats who was helped the most by this grant is Cheddah, a roughly 5-year-old male cat who was surrendered to our sanctuary by a good Samaritan. When Cheddah came in, he was in extremely rough shape. His fur was terribly matted, he had severe infections in both ears, his mouth was a mess, and that was just the start.

Since Cheddah was surrendered to us in May this year, he has had a dental procedure with extractions, multiple sedated ear exams and flushes, several courses of antibiotics and steroids, etc. Upon examining his ears, it was apparent that both ear drums had ruptured.

After almost two full months, Cheddah’s ear drums finally healed and he could officially find his FURever home!

Cheddah does have (and will most likely always have) an adorable head tilt due to the severe ear issues he has gone through. He also is a tad off-balance when he walks! However, he loves pets, and has the biggest purr! He also loves to yell at anyone he can see who is not petting him. Meet Cheddah here.