9 Lives Rescue

These three kittens are the only survivors out of nine - but two of them need your help to get through the next stage!

In mid-July, 9 Lives Rescue volunteers received a call about a very pregnant cat who was named Sprinkles by the caring family who found her. Sprinkles’s belly grew bigger and bigger until foster mom Jamie realized something wasn't quite right. Jamie quickly reached out for vet care, and Sprinkles had an impressive 9 kittens via C-Section. Despite incredible round-the-clock efforts by Jamie and other neonatal care experts, over half of the babies were lost in their first few days of life. This left Sprinkles with 3 little desserts: Bismark, Apple Pie, and Sundae.

These survivors began to thrive and show their fun-loving, spunky personalities. It wasn't until they were a few weeks old that Jamie noticed something wrong with Apple Pie and Sundae. A chest deformity known as Pectus Excavatum, or Funnel Chest, caused Apple Pie and Sundae to fall behind in weight gain and struggle to play like their much bigger brother Bismarck. It was then that 9 Lives volunteers began researching and learned the severity of Apple Pie and Sundae’s situation. Without surgical intervention, Apple Pie and Sundae wouldn’t make it to more than a few months old.

Please help these kittens in the next stage of their fight to live!

Pectus Excavatum is a rare condition in which a malformation of the sternum results in limited space in the chest for the lungs and heart. When the affected kittens are little, the condition causes few symptoms. However, as their heart and lungs grow, space is too limited, resulting in breathing problems and stress to the heart. Fortunately, veterinarians have developed surgical splinting procedures to pull the sternum into the proper place and give PE kittens full, happy lifespans! Apple Pie and Sundae will have splints attached to their sternum and ribcage which will pull their bones into the proper position over several weeks.

With great scientific advances, however, comes great cost. To give these kittens a chance, we are turning to our community for help. With your donations, Apple Pie and Sundae can receive their life saving surgeries from The University of Wisconsin’s veterinary surgery team. The road ahead is long and tough, but these sweet kittens deserve a chance at life!

Please give them a chance!