Help Val the cat
Donation protected
UPDATE 3/27:
It's been a while since I posted about our little rescue kitty. I'm happy to report how great he is doing. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday and it's really going to happen this time!
The infections in his legs have cleared up spectacularly. The casts are there to support him so he can walk painlessly. He walks all over the place now, and you can tell how happy he is to be mobile. We try to involve him in regular life as much as possible so he can get the love and socializing he needs.
He loves to cuddle and be a "Couch Cat". He is also the head of the Itty Bitty Kitty Hissy Fitty Committee, as he does not like sudden movements or loud noises or the dog and tells you so in the way of his people.
Look how healthy he looks! When we brought him home he weighed barely more than 7 pounds, something a healthy 6 month old kitten could weigh no problem. Now he has nearly hit 10 pounds. We continue to pump him full of "the good stuff" to encourage a healthy weight.
This surgery to straighten his damaged joints should hopefully be the last obstacle in his recovery. We've raised money online and offline and have been able to mostly keep up with the costs, bit this surgery will be the most expensive part. Help us make it through the home stretch!
Cheersrs for Val!
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UPDATE: 3-2-17. Val is currently at K-State for a few days, he was dropped off yesterday. In the days leading up to this, his infection was not being appropriately wrangled by the medication he was on, and came down with a fever from the prolonged infection. His fever is dropping with aggressive cleaning on his infection, and we hope for it to return to a kitty-normal temperature while he is there.
The fine folks at K-State are doing their best for him, cleaning his wound, finding the best antibiotic for him to be on, and getting him on a path that will allow us to surgically fix his front leg. We are hopeful that the rear leg will be useable on his own when the infection in that leg clears, and he overcomes the muscular atrophy that it has caused.
In the mean time, Val continues to be a staff-favorite, winning hearts by his wonderful, sweet temperment, and the calm way he allows us to care for him. He is a happy kitty who gives fierce purrs, drags himself into your lap if you're sitting, and only wants love from this world.
This whole experience has been unexpected, rewarding, and a great reminder to the humanity in us all. What is a life worth? What is wellness worth? What is happiness worth? It's hard to put a price on that, but we can only do so much, so we continue to fundraise for his care and for his successful recovery.
Thank you everyone who has been on this ride with us.
____________________________________________________________
UPDATE: Val had a regular vet appointment today, 2/15/17. They said there's old fractures and damage in his front left joint that has healed to the point that the only way to fix it is a Luxated Carpus surgery. He has bones that the vet says "grind" around making it painful for him to use them. It appears as if at least one other limb will need the same surgery. We think he was thrown from a car due to the nature of his injured limbs.
Also, thankfully, he is negative for feline lukemia and HIV. Lucky cat!
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I was driving home from work, heading to the steak dinner that was waiting for me, but, as the universe likes it, that's not how my night ended up.
Nearly home, on the side of the road was a little, grey, bob tailed kitty. I watched him get up, holding his back left leg from the ground, looking very broken, gimping a few feet, and sitting back down. He stared at the passing cars longingly, and I turned around.
I parked, grabbing the only thing edible to him that I had in my car, a dog biscuit. I sat a few feet from him, breaking it into bits and tossing them to him. "Sorry!" I told him as a piece bonked him in the head. He ate it anyway.
In true valentine spirit, my own valentine answered the call of the animal-lover he signed up for a life with, bearing the requested cat carrier and wet meat, abandoning the surprise cheesecake he was making me.
An hour of following, coercing, and laying in the woodchips later, I had him lured into the cat carrier. Off to the vet I went as Tom went home to warm up, finish dinner, and, hopefully, the cheesecake. In the next few hours, I sat and waited as I weighed what I could do for the kitty, what I could pay for, how I could help him.
A painful abscess kept him from putting weight on the leg. Painkillers, x-rays, and antibiotics later, Valentino, Val, for short, came home with me. The emergency vet said to take him to a regular vet to have his abscess taken care of, and upon closer inspection, he looks like he has more injuries, from what I'm not sure. He goes to the regular vet today for further evaluation and to get fixed up. He might need to be sedated and have x-rays taken of his swollen front paws, too. At this time I'm still not sure what kind of shape he is in, but he is so sweet. He will also need to be vetted for all the usual things, like getting neutured and vaccinated.
I didn't change the world today, but surely, Val's world changed for the better. He will be loved for as long as he is with us, as we nurse him back to health. We'll look for a home for him, but we won't kick him out of ours. That's what we're here for, after all, making things better for others, whatever form they came in this life.
Happy Valentines day, indeed. But as his Vet bills mount, I look to you all for help. As a college student and an intern, I don't make a lot. I will do my best for Val, but our combined best will be better.
Please share this story. Thank you.
It's been a while since I posted about our little rescue kitty. I'm happy to report how great he is doing. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday and it's really going to happen this time!
The infections in his legs have cleared up spectacularly. The casts are there to support him so he can walk painlessly. He walks all over the place now, and you can tell how happy he is to be mobile. We try to involve him in regular life as much as possible so he can get the love and socializing he needs.
He loves to cuddle and be a "Couch Cat". He is also the head of the Itty Bitty Kitty Hissy Fitty Committee, as he does not like sudden movements or loud noises or the dog and tells you so in the way of his people.
Look how healthy he looks! When we brought him home he weighed barely more than 7 pounds, something a healthy 6 month old kitten could weigh no problem. Now he has nearly hit 10 pounds. We continue to pump him full of "the good stuff" to encourage a healthy weight.
This surgery to straighten his damaged joints should hopefully be the last obstacle in his recovery. We've raised money online and offline and have been able to mostly keep up with the costs, bit this surgery will be the most expensive part. Help us make it through the home stretch!
Cheersrs for Val!
___________________________________
UPDATE: 3-2-17. Val is currently at K-State for a few days, he was dropped off yesterday. In the days leading up to this, his infection was not being appropriately wrangled by the medication he was on, and came down with a fever from the prolonged infection. His fever is dropping with aggressive cleaning on his infection, and we hope for it to return to a kitty-normal temperature while he is there.
The fine folks at K-State are doing their best for him, cleaning his wound, finding the best antibiotic for him to be on, and getting him on a path that will allow us to surgically fix his front leg. We are hopeful that the rear leg will be useable on his own when the infection in that leg clears, and he overcomes the muscular atrophy that it has caused.
In the mean time, Val continues to be a staff-favorite, winning hearts by his wonderful, sweet temperment, and the calm way he allows us to care for him. He is a happy kitty who gives fierce purrs, drags himself into your lap if you're sitting, and only wants love from this world.
This whole experience has been unexpected, rewarding, and a great reminder to the humanity in us all. What is a life worth? What is wellness worth? What is happiness worth? It's hard to put a price on that, but we can only do so much, so we continue to fundraise for his care and for his successful recovery.
Thank you everyone who has been on this ride with us.
____________________________________________________________
UPDATE: Val had a regular vet appointment today, 2/15/17. They said there's old fractures and damage in his front left joint that has healed to the point that the only way to fix it is a Luxated Carpus surgery. He has bones that the vet says "grind" around making it painful for him to use them. It appears as if at least one other limb will need the same surgery. We think he was thrown from a car due to the nature of his injured limbs.
Also, thankfully, he is negative for feline lukemia and HIV. Lucky cat!
----------------------------------------------------------------
I was driving home from work, heading to the steak dinner that was waiting for me, but, as the universe likes it, that's not how my night ended up.
Nearly home, on the side of the road was a little, grey, bob tailed kitty. I watched him get up, holding his back left leg from the ground, looking very broken, gimping a few feet, and sitting back down. He stared at the passing cars longingly, and I turned around.
I parked, grabbing the only thing edible to him that I had in my car, a dog biscuit. I sat a few feet from him, breaking it into bits and tossing them to him. "Sorry!" I told him as a piece bonked him in the head. He ate it anyway.
In true valentine spirit, my own valentine answered the call of the animal-lover he signed up for a life with, bearing the requested cat carrier and wet meat, abandoning the surprise cheesecake he was making me.
An hour of following, coercing, and laying in the woodchips later, I had him lured into the cat carrier. Off to the vet I went as Tom went home to warm up, finish dinner, and, hopefully, the cheesecake. In the next few hours, I sat and waited as I weighed what I could do for the kitty, what I could pay for, how I could help him.
A painful abscess kept him from putting weight on the leg. Painkillers, x-rays, and antibiotics later, Valentino, Val, for short, came home with me. The emergency vet said to take him to a regular vet to have his abscess taken care of, and upon closer inspection, he looks like he has more injuries, from what I'm not sure. He goes to the regular vet today for further evaluation and to get fixed up. He might need to be sedated and have x-rays taken of his swollen front paws, too. At this time I'm still not sure what kind of shape he is in, but he is so sweet. He will also need to be vetted for all the usual things, like getting neutured and vaccinated.
I didn't change the world today, but surely, Val's world changed for the better. He will be loved for as long as he is with us, as we nurse him back to health. We'll look for a home for him, but we won't kick him out of ours. That's what we're here for, after all, making things better for others, whatever form they came in this life.
Happy Valentines day, indeed. But as his Vet bills mount, I look to you all for help. As a college student and an intern, I don't make a lot. I will do my best for Val, but our combined best will be better.
Please share this story. Thank you.
Organizer
Julie Adkins
Organizer
Lenexa, KS