Urgent Help Needed for Medical Bills for Kittens

Precious Paws needs your help! I know that we have been asking a lot of everyone who sees our posts and go-fund-me items. We are very grateful and appreciative of everything we have gotten from everyone. We can’t say thank you loud enough!

As much as we hate to ask again, we are.

Precious Paws is volunteer based shelter that receives funding from 3 local municipalities when their police departments bring stray, abandoned, sick or injured animals. The monies we receive per animal is minimal and doesn’t cover the cost of medications, foods, litter or any of the day-to-day things these animals require. We are glad that these animals are brought to us so we can begin their journeys to getting healthy and get new homes, however the majority of them come in with medical needs.

This is the second time this year that our shelter volunteers have surprised to literally find kittens stuffed in a box or carrier left outside. The first time there were 7 kittens left who were about 8 weeks old.

On Friday of last week, someone dropped a small carrier covered up with a blanket under the mailbox. It was dropped off between when the morning cleaning volunteers leave around 10:30 and the afternoon volunteers arrive around 1:30. Video shows that the vehicle had driven in and around the shelter area numerous times waiting for the morning staff to leave.

As our volunteers opened the small carrier and started taking out the kittens, we were stunned, shocked and sickened. Stuffed inside this small pen were 8 baby kittens about 5 weeks old. Each one that we took out was covered in fecal matter, goopy eyes that were almost sealed shut from conjunctivitis and starving for food. Each kitten immediately was washed down with a damp cloth and their eyes wiped clean so they could open them. Once cleaned up enough to get a look at them it was clear that these babies would need to be taught how to eat on their own since mama was not with them.

The gray and white runt of the litter couldn’t eat on it’s own so we immediately took it to the kitchen where we started feeding it with a syringe. Finally with a full tummy, the kitten was resting in a soft bed with the other 7 while we were reaching out to one of our foster families to see if they could take on the smallest one. Without hesitation, our foster family agreed to take the kitten; so our manager jumped in her car to meet the family halfway to Proctor.

Throughout the night the kitten seemed to be doing okay, but by 6am it was not wanting to eat much. An emergency trip to a vet showed that the baby had upper respiratory issues and was given nasal sprays to help keep the passages open. This visit alone was upwards of $350. The baby was also given something to help stimulate its appetite. Back at the foster’s home the kitten wasn’t showing any improvements and it lost it battle to live that evening.

We still can’t fathom why would anyone take 8 nursing kittens away from their mother and abandon them at a shelter when no one was there. They could have knocked on the door when volunteers were there instead of leaving them hungry, sick and full of their own stools for another several hours when the afternoon staff arrived.

As we said, we need your help, in addition to the vet bills for the one we lost, we will need vetting for the conjunctivitis, possible upper respiratory and whatever else the stool samples tell us is wrong with these babies. We will now be these babies “mama” for at least the next 8 weeks, hoping to find them homes after that time. The kittens will need to be all vaccinated for rabies and distemper, spay or neutered and microchipped as part PP procedures.

This year so far, we have spent over $6,400 just in spay and neuter vet costs. The other vetting costs this year is well over $5000, which includes vaccinations, ear mite and bacterial ear infections medications, flea treatments, broken bones on kittens, upper respiratory infections and other contagious sicknesses that have come in. Add in the daily expenses of food, litter and cleaning supplies, and you will see that the nominal fees we get from the contracted municipalities doesn’t cover much.

We fundraise, receive donations and give out of our pockets to help these animals find their furever homes. The adoption fees don’t cover our expenses, so we are reaching out asking for your generous donations. Please, please, please help us to continue to help the animals that are entrusted to us to save their lives. We need your help now more than ever.