Mitten Kitty Vet Bill Fund
Donation protected
*** 0817/2020 Update ***
Well, Mittens goes back to the vet today to get a final checkup and some stitches removed. It has been a little over 2 weeks since her surgery and things have progressed nicely. She is still timid around people and easily prone to flee to the safety that the loveseats along the wall afford to her, but she is also getting playful and loves nothing more spending than TV time nestled between us. It is now a common sight to see a little black and white flash of fur dart across the floor or between furniture as she practices her hiding skills.
She also has this adorable thing where she will be purring and will meow at the same. It creates a trill sound that is so sweet and we hear it quite loudly at mealtime in the morning. She also likes to stretch as far as she can when being held.
You can see pictures of here on our photo gallery page.
http://www.bakerjw.org/PhotoGallery/index.php?/category/877
We are very appreciative of everyone who has helped us deal with this unexpected expense. We are over the hurdle so we're going to be closing down this fundraiser. Again, please accept our heartfelt gratitude for having helped us offset these expenses.
If you are ever in a similar situation, please investigate CareCredit. They offer 0% financing for 12 months which can ease the hit on the budget.
Also many thanks to the UT Center for Veterinary Medicine for their help with Mittens.
*** 08/04/2020 Update ***
It has been a week since Mitten Kitty made her way to our house. It has been a rough, tiring and not inexpensive road for all involved. She is still eating voraciously but is still mostly skin and bones. Her incisions look very good and although the doctors were worried about infections, there are no signs of redness or swelling. She did her first Skype with our granddaughter today and seemed to be fascinated with the little box full of colors talking to her. We are touched by the generosity of friends, family and total strangers. May many blessings come your way.
The story from the beginning
48 hours ago, our day started like any other. Around mid morning, my wife found a small young cat hiding under the steps to the side of our home. After I got home for lunch, I found her hiding under the steps to our garage. Skin and bones with a bleeding sore and broken leg. I suspected that she'd been hit by a car. With food and talking to her, I was able to coax her to come to me before wrapping her in a blanket and heading off to the vet.
At the vet, she climbed out of the carrier with the broken leg and started rubbing on anyone who'd pet her and purred loudly. The diagnosis was that Mitten Kitty had been attacked by another animal. That same morning something tried to get one of our chickens too so we assume that it was a dog. She had been shaken so viciously that it broke her femur near the hip and was described by the vet as her leg having been internally amputated. She also had punctures on the inside of her leg as well but other than being malnourished, she was in very good health and loving on anyone who'd pet her.
Mitten Kitty had a chip in her that showed that she had been picked up at the local animal shelter a month back. The vet contacted the original owner who lived just down the road from us. The owner found that they were allergic to cats (most likely unable to keep them in the apartment) so they made her an outdoor cat. Mitten Kitty had been missing for 3 weeks. They were also unable or unwilling to pay the vet bills, so they relinquished ownership to us and I guaranteed all payments for her care.
The break of the femur was very bad. The options were to euthanize her, which the vet would not do because of her good nature, amputate the leg or orthopedic surgery if the orthopedic vets felt it was a viable option. The vets at the University of Tennessee Center of Veterinary Medicine will do a stackpin fixation of the femur which is not inexpensive.
We took on this kitten full well knowing the costs involved and the financial responsibility that comes with it. We are also paying everything up front.
The initial vet bill for treatment, diagnosis, one night stay and referral was $591.00.
The estimated cost at the UTCVM for the Stackpin Fixation surgery is $3,000 to $3,500. We are not sure if that is for all related expenses or just the surgery.
I assume that it will end up being a minimum of $4,100 and there will likely be follow up visits.
I started this GofundMe to simply help offset some of the burden of the surgical costs for Mitten Kitty. All billing invoices will be made public and any excess that is not needed will be donated to a local cat rescue.
How did Mitten Kitty get her name? My Granddaughter Elia loves cats. for her birthday a year or so ago, I sent her a small plastic cat that I picked up from a local TSC. It was black with white paws and I told her it looked like it was wearing mittens. She immediately named it Mitten Kitty. On the shelf of many treasures in her room, Mitten Kitty stands guard atop the hockey puck that she was given when I took her to her first hockey game. When I saw this injured kitten and realized that it was a true to form Mitten Kitty, it brought tears to my eyes and there was no way in the world that it was not going to get the best treatment that we could afford.
We know times are tough right now. Paying for these bills will not take food off of our table. If you can help with a few bucks, great, but don't let it impact your needs or your families. If you made it this far, We thank you for at least reading.
John and Beth Baker
UPDATE 08/01/2020
We brought Mitten Kitty home from the UTCVM this morning and she traveled very well. Once home, we put her into a small isolated area and she became quite insistent that the petting not stop. It took quite a bit of effort to get her to stay in the "cone of shame" as well as to lay down and rest. she is going to be a major handful for the next 2 weeks, that is 100% for sure.
Thanks to all for their support so far. It does help soften the financial blow.
UPDATE 07/31/2020
This morning John and our son James tool Mittens to UTCVM. She was hungry and let everyone know but settled in nicely for the trip. It took a while to get her processed and for the veterinary staff to do an assessment. They looked at the x-rays and were in agreement that it was a very bad break with a definite uphill battle but was worth doing. They also performed a neurological assessment of her left leg. They found that there was no pain response from the foot and no reflex action. After a few more tests the fine doctor that I spoke with advised that there was certainly nerve damage that could not be repaired and that amputation was the best course of action. We started down this road to get Mitten Kitty the best care that we could. Our local vet is very good, but these are some of the best in the entire region. About 2:00 this afternoon, the doctor called me to let me know that the surgery went very well and that she was resting comfortably. He said that when they went in, they found that one of the punctures had went right into the sciatic nerve and that there was no way that her leg would have ever been of use again.
It is not quite what we had hoped but she has such a strong spirit and loves people so much that all will be good in the end. We will be bringer her home tomorrow sometime to recuperate and nestle in to our family with our other 2 cats.
For the record. Our other 2 cats have lodged protests about all of this. :)
Well, Mittens goes back to the vet today to get a final checkup and some stitches removed. It has been a little over 2 weeks since her surgery and things have progressed nicely. She is still timid around people and easily prone to flee to the safety that the loveseats along the wall afford to her, but she is also getting playful and loves nothing more spending than TV time nestled between us. It is now a common sight to see a little black and white flash of fur dart across the floor or between furniture as she practices her hiding skills.
She also has this adorable thing where she will be purring and will meow at the same. It creates a trill sound that is so sweet and we hear it quite loudly at mealtime in the morning. She also likes to stretch as far as she can when being held.
You can see pictures of here on our photo gallery page.
http://www.bakerjw.org/PhotoGallery/index.php?/category/877
We are very appreciative of everyone who has helped us deal with this unexpected expense. We are over the hurdle so we're going to be closing down this fundraiser. Again, please accept our heartfelt gratitude for having helped us offset these expenses.
If you are ever in a similar situation, please investigate CareCredit. They offer 0% financing for 12 months which can ease the hit on the budget.
Also many thanks to the UT Center for Veterinary Medicine for their help with Mittens.
*** 08/04/2020 Update ***
It has been a week since Mitten Kitty made her way to our house. It has been a rough, tiring and not inexpensive road for all involved. She is still eating voraciously but is still mostly skin and bones. Her incisions look very good and although the doctors were worried about infections, there are no signs of redness or swelling. She did her first Skype with our granddaughter today and seemed to be fascinated with the little box full of colors talking to her. We are touched by the generosity of friends, family and total strangers. May many blessings come your way.
The story from the beginning
48 hours ago, our day started like any other. Around mid morning, my wife found a small young cat hiding under the steps to the side of our home. After I got home for lunch, I found her hiding under the steps to our garage. Skin and bones with a bleeding sore and broken leg. I suspected that she'd been hit by a car. With food and talking to her, I was able to coax her to come to me before wrapping her in a blanket and heading off to the vet.
At the vet, she climbed out of the carrier with the broken leg and started rubbing on anyone who'd pet her and purred loudly. The diagnosis was that Mitten Kitty had been attacked by another animal. That same morning something tried to get one of our chickens too so we assume that it was a dog. She had been shaken so viciously that it broke her femur near the hip and was described by the vet as her leg having been internally amputated. She also had punctures on the inside of her leg as well but other than being malnourished, she was in very good health and loving on anyone who'd pet her.
Mitten Kitty had a chip in her that showed that she had been picked up at the local animal shelter a month back. The vet contacted the original owner who lived just down the road from us. The owner found that they were allergic to cats (most likely unable to keep them in the apartment) so they made her an outdoor cat. Mitten Kitty had been missing for 3 weeks. They were also unable or unwilling to pay the vet bills, so they relinquished ownership to us and I guaranteed all payments for her care.
The break of the femur was very bad. The options were to euthanize her, which the vet would not do because of her good nature, amputate the leg or orthopedic surgery if the orthopedic vets felt it was a viable option. The vets at the University of Tennessee Center of Veterinary Medicine will do a stackpin fixation of the femur which is not inexpensive.
We took on this kitten full well knowing the costs involved and the financial responsibility that comes with it. We are also paying everything up front.
The initial vet bill for treatment, diagnosis, one night stay and referral was $591.00.
The estimated cost at the UTCVM for the Stackpin Fixation surgery is $3,000 to $3,500. We are not sure if that is for all related expenses or just the surgery.
I assume that it will end up being a minimum of $4,100 and there will likely be follow up visits.
I started this GofundMe to simply help offset some of the burden of the surgical costs for Mitten Kitty. All billing invoices will be made public and any excess that is not needed will be donated to a local cat rescue.
How did Mitten Kitty get her name? My Granddaughter Elia loves cats. for her birthday a year or so ago, I sent her a small plastic cat that I picked up from a local TSC. It was black with white paws and I told her it looked like it was wearing mittens. She immediately named it Mitten Kitty. On the shelf of many treasures in her room, Mitten Kitty stands guard atop the hockey puck that she was given when I took her to her first hockey game. When I saw this injured kitten and realized that it was a true to form Mitten Kitty, it brought tears to my eyes and there was no way in the world that it was not going to get the best treatment that we could afford.
We know times are tough right now. Paying for these bills will not take food off of our table. If you can help with a few bucks, great, but don't let it impact your needs or your families. If you made it this far, We thank you for at least reading.
John and Beth Baker
UPDATE 08/01/2020
We brought Mitten Kitty home from the UTCVM this morning and she traveled very well. Once home, we put her into a small isolated area and she became quite insistent that the petting not stop. It took quite a bit of effort to get her to stay in the "cone of shame" as well as to lay down and rest. she is going to be a major handful for the next 2 weeks, that is 100% for sure.
Thanks to all for their support so far. It does help soften the financial blow.
UPDATE 07/31/2020
This morning John and our son James tool Mittens to UTCVM. She was hungry and let everyone know but settled in nicely for the trip. It took a while to get her processed and for the veterinary staff to do an assessment. They looked at the x-rays and were in agreement that it was a very bad break with a definite uphill battle but was worth doing. They also performed a neurological assessment of her left leg. They found that there was no pain response from the foot and no reflex action. After a few more tests the fine doctor that I spoke with advised that there was certainly nerve damage that could not be repaired and that amputation was the best course of action. We started down this road to get Mitten Kitty the best care that we could. Our local vet is very good, but these are some of the best in the entire region. About 2:00 this afternoon, the doctor called me to let me know that the surgery went very well and that she was resting comfortably. He said that when they went in, they found that one of the punctures had went right into the sciatic nerve and that there was no way that her leg would have ever been of use again.
It is not quite what we had hoped but she has such a strong spirit and loves people so much that all will be good in the end. We will be bringer her home tomorrow sometime to recuperate and nestle in to our family with our other 2 cats.
For the record. Our other 2 cats have lodged protests about all of this. :)
Organizer
John Baker
Organizer
Johnson City, TN
