Hello, my name is Kirk and that beautiful cat lying there after being shot is Chatty. She is loved and is well known by the neighbors so why someone would shoot this loving cat is unconscionable and devastating to us who love her. Now her life is in the hands of God and the staff at OVRS. Normally I would not ask for help and find a way to pay for this, but the bills have been astronomical and overwhelming and total over $12,000.00 as of 9/13/21 with an estimate of another $ 6,000.00 in the next few days and I am desperate to get her the care she needs.

I adopted Chatty (the one with the black nose) and her sister Lovey in January of 2016 at 22 weeks from the Silver Lake Animal rescue. I was told I had to take both kittens or neither as they were littermates and though I only wanted a single kitten when I saw them both together it was clear I could not break them up and took them into my loving home. Since I am not married and have no children these cats are my kids and I love them totally and unconditionally.

Their lives were pretty normal for pampered kitties but Chatty being a bit more adventurous was a little more of a handful sometimes as you can see in the pictures.

Chatty’s life has been a bit more difficult than her sister Lovey. In January of 2017, I noticed her eyes getting cloudy and ended up taking her to a specialist at BluePearl Pet Hospital to find out she had bilateral corneal disease and eosinophilic keratitis that would require months/years of treatment which I have done for her and she is doing better though if you have ever tried to give a cat pills or eye drops you know how challenging that can be on a daily basis not to mention catching them when they know what is coming :)

Then in June of 2019 on a Saturday night, Chatty came into the house at about midnight with her belly dragging on the ground but not appearing to be in pain, it totally put me in panic mode. Having just moved into my house I didn’t know where the cat carrier ended up so I was frantically looking for it in the meantime she had gone back outside and caught a mouse and had brought it into the house. Once I grabbed her and picked her up her entire belly was slashed open (I think she got caught on a fence) I knew I had to take her to the ER but it was after midnight on a Saturday. I called a few 24-hour vets and only BluePearl Pet Hospital would take her so took her there as fast as I could thinking the worse. Upon arrival and examination, I was told that Chatty would be fine and require 20 or so staples to close up her belly. As an FYI I found out that unlike humans’ cats have two layers of skin, the one with the hair attached and a second that protects their internal organs luckily, she had only cut through the first.

Life was pretty normal until September 10, 2021, when at 3:28 PM I get a text with a picture that said “Is this your cat? She is breathing but hasn’t moved for hours. Not sure if she’s just exhausted or something else is going on. Very odd that she didn’t run when I approached her. My backyard butts up to Bills.”

As you can imagine I am totally freaked out because she is not one to just lay around for hours and frankly, she looked like she was dead as you can see in the photo that she attached. I was at the shop working and only a few minutes away so immediately went to see her. When I arrived, I could see that she was indeed breathing but wasn’t moving at all and just barely able to cry yet no blood was anywhere. This was not like her as her name is Chatty for a reason, she is always expressive so to not hear her or see her get up caused me to shift into emergency mode.

I scooped her up not knowing at all what had happened and took her to Exclusively Cats where her Vet practices were about 6 minutes away. They take her in thankfully even though they are closing and examine her.

About 20 minutes later the Dr. comes out and tells me Chatty has been shot and they show me the X-ray where what appears to be a BB is lodged in her spinal column. She tells me Chatty is in shock and her blood pressure is very low (102) as well as her body temperature (94, normally at least 103) and breathing through her mouth which for a cat is very bad. She then told me that normally they don’t try and remove the BB since it can be difficult and dangerous surgery, but further evaluation is needed, and Chatty will need to be monitored 24/7 a service they do not provide. I was told that they would recommend I take her to Oakland Veterinary Referral Services and that they had called them and told them I was bringing Chatty there and they would accept her.

They give Chatty IV fluids to increase blood pressure and antibiotics to prevent infection and tried to arm her up. After about an hour her temp increased slightly as did her blood pressure, so they suggested I take her now to OVRS.

Upon arrival at OVRS, they were ready for her and immediately took her back and did the ER assessment, continued the IV, inserted a catheter, took x-rays, bloodwork, ultrasound, inserted infusion pump, more antibiotics, and pain meds. She is receiving Level II care at that point.

After about an hour they came out and told me that they would monitor overnight and call me in the morning with the status and plan of treatment.

The following morning September 11, I get a call saying that they are calling in a specialist for a consultation as they are concerned that the injury may be more severe than originally thought. While her BP and temp are rising her blood cell count is low and she is anemic and wants to do a blood transfusion. They want to do a CT scan so they can better see what the real damage is as an x-ray just cannot tell the whole story. She is then moved to Level III care (ICU).

A few hours later I get a call with the results of the consultation. They want to do surgery to remove the BB as they are concerned it may be impinging on the spinal cord and cause more damage. The surgery happens within a couple of hours as they had to call in specialist surgeons and staff to perform the operation.

OVRS who was very good at communicating through the entire process called me at about 3:30 PM telling me the surgery was starting and then again at 5:30 PM when it was completed and told me they thought it was quite successful and had no real complications.

On September 12, I am called for one of my daily updates and told that Chatty is stable and BP and temp are normal but her blood count is low and thought they didn’t feel the transfusion was needed prior to the surgery due to her numbers increasing they want to do one now as they are too low. The blood transfusion is done over about 4 hours. A urinary catheter is also put in

On September 13, I visited Chatty for the first time since her admittance with my girlfriend Nyjae. Chatty looked terrible and sad, IV’s in her legs, staples in her back and side from surgery, pupils dilated, softly crying, cone on her head, a feeding tube in her nose, catheter in her she must have been miserable. She couldn’t move her back legs at all though while she was desperate to pull herself around with fronts it was heartbreaking to see my GF and I were very upset and crying but had to realize that this was less than 48 hours after surgery, so we need to keep praying and hope for the best. Chatty did seem to know we were there as she laid her head on my GF’s arm while we petted and talked to her to console her. The bad news if there wasn't enough is that she is not eating and hasn't had a bowel movement since the incident. Dr. Snow suggests that she receive HBOT (hyperbolic oxygen treatment) as well as steroids to help with the healing, so they start both.

September 14 shows signs of improvement today as I talked with Dr. Snow and it seems the HBOT and steroids may be helping as she moved her rear legs in response to pinching or her paws. They will continue the HBOT again tonight and tomorrow.

Costs thus far:

Exclusively Cats 9/10/21 - $ 569.12

Oakland Veterinary Referral Services - $ 16,815.00

Normally I would not ask for help and find a way to pay for this but the bills have been astronomical and overwhelming and total over $ 12,000.00 as of 9/13/21 with an estimate of another $ 6,000.00 in the next few days. I run my own business and haven’t paid myself in over 3 years and with COVID I’ve been struggling. Any money raised will be used only for the cost of the bills for Chatty's care and anything that is over my goal will be donated to various animal charities.

They do not perform services without being paid upfront so I have had to max out my CC’s and open a CareCredit account just to get her treatment started. I would be so thankful for any help that you might be able to lend me in this most tragic moment. I donate each month to pet charities in the hopes that other animals do not have to suffer and am hoping that you would help me with mine.

I thank you in advance for your time reading Chatty's story, saying prayers for her recovery, and consideration of financial assistance. God bless you and have a wonderful day.