Support Shiloh's Fight for a Second Chance

In November of 2022 I was asked to help a woman whose family had gotten in over their heads in unspayed and unneutered cats having consecutive litters of kittens in the cellar of the home. Her foster son lived in the cellar and was supposedly caring for the cats he had let in.

I volunteer doing animal rescue and although I offered to go to the home and trap the cats, I was never permitted to go to the house, nor did I know where they lived. The homeowner would meet me at location and give me cats. Over many interactions from the beginning of December 2022 through the end of January 2023 I was given cats which I had spayed and neutered and rehomed. At the end of Jan 2023, I was told all the cats were accounted for and all were spayed and neutered.

The family did however want a few particular cats returned to them after the spay and neuter surgeries—and Shiloh (a healthy 6 month old kitten at the time) was one of them.

Fast forward to May 2024. The foster son died suddenly leaving no one to care for the cats in the cellar. The homeowner reached out to me in July (months after the foster son had died) and asked for me to take the cats from her. I agreed to take them, vet them again and find them homes but she said she couldn’t get them and that the one cat, Shiloh, had been hiding in the rafters a lot after her foster son died. I offered to come over and trap him but was again not allowed at the house. I leant the woman traps and carriers and kept checking in with her but kept hearing they couldn’t get him. I was told however, they were being fed and given water in the meantime. Months passed and on Thursday November 21st, she called and said they finally got Shiloh.

Since I had no heads up, I was out of town taking care of my sick uncle and asked a dear friend of mine to meet her to get the cats. My friend called me as soon as she got home with them and said the cats were in deplorable condition—soaked in their own urine, flea ridden and starving. The one cat ate entire can of food immediately, but Shiloh, skin and bones, just sat with his head by the water bowl with a distant stare. It was like he wanted to drink but couldn’t and he had bile coming out of his mouth. My friend and I exchanged two quick phone calls with each other before deciding Shiloh needed to go the emergency vet immediately b/c he was dying. So around midnight he was taken to MedVet (2810 Washington Rd, McMurray, PA 15317) where he was triaged and immediately admitted. His blood glucose was 36 (he was almost in a diabetic coma) he was severely dehydrated, his body temp was 96 (low) and blood pressure was so low they couldn’t get a reading. Care was started immediately, and he was placed in a warmer to get his body temperature up. Based on the blood work, xrays and ultrasound, the doctors determined Shiloh had not been offered proper nutrition and water in quite some time and his body was shutting down. But on top of that we learned that the poor thing was so hungry he had resorted to eating the foam tubing that insulated the pipes in the rafters. He passed some in his stool and after more testing it was determined he has a blockage in his intestines from this foreign matter. An NG tube was placed, and emergency surgery has to be done to remove the blockage.

Despite what poor Shiloh has been put through, Dr. Rice and Dr. Hutchinson feel his body is responding and he’s fighting.

• His blood pressure is a little more stable and the meds are being decreased to see if he can maintain the blood pressure without as much assistance—making it a safer situation for surgery

• His hydration is better given the fluids he’s being given.

• His kidney values are showing some improvement.

• His blood glucose and temperature are maintaining themselves although he is still in a warmer.

This 2.5 year old is giving us all the signs he wants to fight, and we want to give him the second chance he deserves. But we need your help because his veterinary bills are very expensive and we would appreciate anything you can give to help Shiloh.

Although we know people might feel more confident donating to the veterinary hospital directly, the medical director wasn’t comfortable logistically taking that on and preferred we accept the donations to pay for his care.

We will give updates on Shiloh’s journey on this page. And please keep in mind we are not veterinarians and may not be describing everything using the proper medical terms, but these are the notes we’ve taken and feel this captures the current situation as accurately as possible.