On August 18th, 2023, my parents took in a foster dog. We welcomed the dog into our home with our existing 5 cats and 1 other dog. The rescue ensured us that the dog was cat friendly, even sending us videos of him interacting with cat. This was our only stipulation with taking in the dog as we care deeply for our pets. Even with them ensuring us that the dog does well with cats, we kept them separate. We put up animal gates and physically separated them until he could acclimate to his new surroundings.

On 8/25/2023, my dad took the dog outside at around 1 as he usually does. When he tried to bring him inside, the dog spotted one of the cats and bolted, knocking my dad over and attacking our 4 year old cat, Milo. He shook him violently until my dad got them separated. In all the chaos, the dog found my 9 month old cat, Boogie, and picked her up I’m his mouth. My dad had to pry his mouth open to get her out and away from him.

Both cats were rushed to the emergency vet. They are in stable but critical condition. Milo has puncture wounds to his abdomen and around his shoulders, bruising, and whiplash. Boogie has a collapsed lung, we are unsure yet if he punctured it or not. She also has contusions consistent with crush wounds all around her chest area. They are both currently staying overnight at the animal hospital.

We are unsure if they will make it, but we want to make sure they get the best treatment available. This has been incredibly devastating for me and my family and i ask you all to help in whatever way you can. Money is tight, but we love our babies and just want them to get the care they deserve.

Update 8/26/2023: This morning, Boogie was having much more trouble breathing. They inserted a chest tube and had to remove air from her chest several times. Unfortunately, she was showing rapid decline and we made the difficult decision to put her down. Watching her struggle to breathe was absolutely heartbreaking for us and we did not want her to suffer any longer. 

Milo has come home but is to be under constant supervision to see if he develops anymore symptoms indicating crush wounds. Things are still up in the air but we are remaining hopeful for our little guy.