Meet Peggy!

She was found in our backyard last August alongside her 3 siblings. They were abandoned by their mom so we’d check on them everyday to make sure they had enough food to survive and a safe space to sleep and play. We grew to love them all in the process but we had a soft spot in our hearts for one kitten in particular.

Peggy was born with three and a half legs and would hop around like a bunny because she couldn’t walk properly. Doctors weren’t sure whether she developed that way in the womb or if the umbilical cord wrapped around her leg during birth. She was the runt of the litter so we’d have to feed her separately otherwise the other cats would not leave her enough food to eat. She had a very distinct meow that sounded like a squeak and the white spots on her face made her look like Ghost from Call of Duty. Whenever we stepped outside to visit with her, she’d run up to us and nudge us to scratch her ear for her since she was missing her back leg and couldn’t do it on her own. All these small unique details drew us to her, but ultimately, we loved her because she loved us back.

A few months ago she and her sister both got pregnant at the same time, and while we were confident that Slinky (the sister) would be okay, we worried about whether Peggy would survive the pregnancy. Our fears worsened when one day, we saw that her bad leg (or her peg, if you will) was bleeding from a huge open wound. We ended up taking her to the Animal Emergency Clinic where she was given antibiotics to keep the wound from getting infected but by the end of the visit the message was clear: we would need to amputate her bad leg soon or else the wound would keep opening up and eventually kill her.

After that we officially took her in the house to prevent her wound from getting worse. Eventually it healed, then she also safely gave birth to 4 kittens soon after, but fast forward to a few days ago and her wound had opened up again—but worse than before. We took her back to the animal hospital to see what we could do. It came down to either amputating her leg or putting her down. We got an estimate for the surgery and it said the cost would range between $2,000 to $3,000. Those numbers sent us into a frenzy. Putting her down seemed like the most logical choice as we did not have the funds to do the operation. They informed us that applying for a “Care Credit” credit card was an option and, if approved, we’d have the funds immediately. We spent over an hour in the hospital room going back and forth trying to decide what the best choice was. Going into so much debt just for a cat we had taken in simply did not make logical sense, but our hearts were breaking. Once the tears stopped, we went to get the doctor to tell them of our extremely difficult decision to put Peggy down. But when they asked us what our decision was, we froze. We couldn’t bring ourselves to say the words. After a long silence, we changed our minds last second and said: “We’re gonna do the amputation” and applied for Care Credit.

The drive home was quiet. We were holding back tears the entire time, unsure if we had made the right decision. We were basically given a price-tag on our beloved cat’s life and then asked if it was worth it. After an excruciating evening spent debating what was right and what was wrong, we had to step back and reframe our decision—it wasn’t about being right but finding the courage to keep Peggy’s life going. It could be argued that it would have been easier to just put her down and save thousands of dollars but that’s not where our values lie. Life can be rough for all of us but it was especially rough on her, we are humbly asking for your help to keep it going and to celebrate her first birthday by giving your support in any way possible.

Thank you in advance for any donations, any amount is greatly appreciated! Sharing this link would also be a huge help :) <3 

with love, 

Peggy, Sam, and Jacqueline