Saving Elliott-A Struggle for Life

This 2-year-old kitty from SAINTS Cat Rescue is yet again, a very critical case for Critter Crusaders! Elliott received a blood transfusion yesterday afternoon on his arrival at Eastern Iowa Vet Specialty Center. His packed cell volume was a mere 11%. It means his oxygen transporting red blood cells were so low that the organs within his body were gravely depleted of oxygen. He could not walk or even stand. There was good improvement after the transfusion and today, his PCV is 17%. Still super low but improved. Overnight, we received a call from Dr. Miller around 2:30am. Elliot’s body was starting to bruise and his clotting times were very high. This means that he began bleeding under his skin due to very low platelets. Platelets cause the blood to clump and clot. This is a life-threatening emergency and Elliot required a plasma transfusion. Today he has stabilized but the doctors are unsure where the problem is coming from. Next on Elliot’s game plan is an abdominal ultrasound today. They are hoping to locate a possible source of blood loss or any abnormality that would piece this puzzle together. This is again another high dollar event for CC with the ongoing need for critical care. We will start a Go Fund Me today and ask that you share Elliot’s story. This is not something we like to do, but with so many critical cases at one time and upcoming appointments and surgeries on other patients in our system, we have to make sure that our other pets have the needed resources for care.

If you prefer not to donate online, you can mail a check to CC and designate "for Elliott" in the memo:

Critter Crusaders of Cedar Rapids
PO Box 10111
Cedar Rapids, IA 52410-0111

Thank you all so much and we will update you again later today.