LIC Feral Feeders is a small, volunteer-run nonprofit cat rescue based in Queens, NY. This week, we've been working on a critical rescue case unlike anything we've come across before. We're here to share Arepa's story and we need your donations to keep helping her.

Arepa is a gentle 2-year-old mama cat who has recently endured unimaginable pain. After a difficult and traumatic labor, Arepa was brought to one of our partner clinics to be euthanized. She had delivered two kittens—one sadly passed away, and the other was surrendered to a different clinic. Because her delivery went terribly wrong, Arepa suffered from a severe uterine prolapse, a painful and complex medical condition that left her in critical condition bleeding out for days without proper care.

When we learned about her situation and saw she had life left in her, we couldn’t turn our backs on her without trying to help her. We brought Arepa to our primary spay/neuter clinic in Long Island City the next day, but her case was so complicated that they did not feel comfortable operating on her. We immediately brought her over to another partner clinic in Maspeth, where the doctor conducted an emergency spay procedure. The procedure was very risky given that Arepa had lost a significant amount of blood, but parts of her uterus were necrotizing, and she was weak and anemic, so we moved forward with the surgery.

Despite the risks, the veterinary team performed a high-stakes spay surgery to remove the prolapsed uterus. Miraculously, Arepa survived the procedure, but her battle didn’t end there. Although the doctor was cautiously optimistic about her condition given how quickly she regained consciousness and regained her appetite temporarily, her condition worsened the next day. Arepa's gums were dangerously pale, her bloodwork revealed severe anemia, and she needed an urgent blood transfusion and hospitalization to stabilize her fragile body.

We next took Arepa to an urgent care clinic in East Elmhurst where she received a blood transfusion and remained hospitalized. Initially experiencing a slight fever, she did well and her body accepted the blood transfusion over the course of a few hours. Her hematocrit level is approaching the status of mild anemia as opposed to severe anemia, and she is steadily maintaining this level.

At the same time, Arepa remains hypotensive and her appetite is poor. We are working on transferring her over to one of our partner ER clinics in Long Island for additional monitoring and stabilization.

Arepa has shown us incredible strength and resilience through all of this and she still has a long recovery ahead, but she is holding on. And as long as she’s fighting, so are we.

Her emergency care, surgery, transfusion, and hospitalization have already cost nearly $6,500—and her medical needs are ongoing.

We want to give Arepa the best possible chance at life, but we can’t do it alone. Every donation, no matter the size, helps cover her treatment and keeps her safe and comfortable as she recovers.

If you can’t contribute financially, you can still help by sharing Arepa’s story so more people can see her and join the fight for her life.

Thank you for standing with Arepa. Together, we can show her the love and care she’s always deserved.