Kitty City Cat Rescue: Emergency Medical Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The $1,000 grant was used (and is still being used for) the veterinary bills for Shire, a cat at our shelter who desperately needed an empty eye socket closed and the tear duct repaired. He also needed to become healthy enough for that surgery -- he came to us as a sickly kitten, and he has incurred a year's worth of costly vet bills. He had surgery in late October, and he will need another surgery, as part of his surgical site has opened a tiny bit.
Shire was seen by Dr. Grice at Northside Wesleyan Animal Hospital in Macon, GA. So far, his bills have totaled almost $800, and he has another surgery to be scheduled in the next two weeks.
This grant has helped us immensely. We are a small cat shelter in central Georgia, and we survive solely on donations. Shire came to us weak and at death's doorstep. It is our mission to help all animals in our care become completely healthy and adoptable, but sometimes that comes at a great cost. Before receiving the Petfinder Foundation grant, we had not been able to schedule Shire's surgery due to the cost of care. After his upcoming second surgery, he will be adoptable! Receiving funding for his care has also allowed us to be able to better care for other cats in our shelter who have additional veterinary needs.
How many pets did this grant help?
One
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Shire came to us as a very sickly, emaciated kitten in January 2016. He came in with his much-healthier sister, and honestly we did not think he would survive. He had an empty eye socket that constantly remained infected, and it also caused him to have sinus infections since the tear duct wasn’t draining properly. Shire went into foster care to see if he could become stronger outside the shelter, and he thrived! He returned to the shelter, but he was still plagued with sinus infections which required antibiotics and nasal medication daily. We applied for the Petfinder Foundation Emergency Medical Grant in the hopes that we could provide our sweet Shire with surgery to close the eye and repair the duct, and we received funding! Shire had his first surgery in late October and it was very effective. A small part of the surgery site has re-opened, so he will need surgery again in the coming weeks to close the eye. After this surgery, we are hoping Shire can find his perfect forever home — he is such a loving, rambunctious teddy bear of a cat and we would love to see him happy with his very own family. Meet Shire: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34227957
