Vet Bills for Neal Smith

I found Neal shivering with his eyes matted shut in a freezing cold barn shed. He was unable to navigate to food or water and the momma cat disappeared when he was around four weeks old. I put him in an empty desk drawer and took him home, Neal didn’t move for the entire two hour trip and I was not sure he would survive the night.

For three days all he did was eat, drink, and sleep. It took two days before he was able to pee, he must have been terribly dehydrated. Got him to the vet and he was underweight, had an upper respiratory infection, and eye and ear infections, he is also suspected of having feline herpes. Started treatment and he has shown signs of improvement but still isn’t  100%. Neal has also developed three enormous abscesses under his ear, cheek, and chin, two of them have been lanced and he has already gone through three rounds of antibiotics and weeks with a face full of blood and puss from draining wounds. He has his fourth vet visit in five weeks to lance his newest abscess on Christmas Eve.

It took him three days to turn from a feral kitten into a loving purr monster, at his first vet visit they left a note on his discharge paper of “Very nice cat!”and he has been a sweet little chirpy fluff through all the treatments, even though he has obviously been feeling lousy. I have never described myself as a ‘cat person’ and the plan when I first got him was to foster him and then find him a good home, but I fell deeply in love with him! Best surprise of 2020 by far!

I expected lots of vet bills, but with everything going on this year they are are stretching me to the limit - I’ve been unemployed for several months and I will be going back to school to start a new career in January . I am committed to giving Neal Smith the best care and life that I can, but we could use some help to make sure he gets all the treatments he needs. All donations will go directly to Neal’s care and upkeep, any left over will be put to a catch/neuter/release program at the farm where I found him. 

Thank you so much for reading this far! If you are able to give anything Neal and I hugely appreciate it. If you aren’t able to give, but still want to help, please spread Neal’s story. Watch for lots of updates and kitty pictures  as Neal Smith grows up to a healthy happy cat!