Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Kittens and Cats, Rescued and in Need

orange kitten
Sassy

Sassy

Rescued and in the care of Animals Against the Odds (AATO), Sassy was found bleeding and injured, rushed to VCA Castle Shannon who transferred her to Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center (PVSEC) for an orthopedic surgeon to evaluate a broken upper jaw. Initial ER vet bills were over $500 and PVSEC estimates her surgery and hospitalization will cost approx $2-3,000 more. She has a broken upper jaw, possible orbital fracture and white blood cell count is very high. She is social, relaxed and friendly, so AATO will do everything possible for this sweet kitten and they need your help with this huge emergency vet bill.

Sassy has had one successful reconstructive surgery but her white blood cell count is still high. She is under the care of PVSEC where she is quickly charming the scrubs off the staff. This super sweet, amazing kitten has a long way to go, but she is improving daily. Information about donating to help with her care is below.

If you are on Facebook you can read more about AATO and find updates on Sassy and other cats they are rescuing and placing.

Other initiatives by AATO: The Getaway Cats

AATO has an enormous number of rescues this fall and they greatly appreciate any support. Another outsized rescue effort is to trap and TNR a huge colony of strays and ferals—30 to 40 adults and at present five litters of kittens, all with URIs, outside The Getaway Restaurant in the south hills of Pittsburgh. People were banned from trapping and feeding the cats for a while, now someone is feeding them, but only after dark. They managed to catch several adults and kittens for the TNR clinic (mentioned below), but they’d really like to find foster homes for the kittens while putting the spayed/neutered adults back in place.

Moving an entire colony

They are also moving a colony of cats and kittens and are building a shelter for them to live over the winter at some expense; I had written about this a few weeks back, help with this, even gift cards to Lowe’s and such, would be greatly appreciated.

Even if you can only spare a few dollars, it all helps.  Donations can be called into their account at PVSEC, 412-366-3400, or by clicking the Chip-in link: http://aato.chipin.com/emergency-surgery-for-kitten-with-broken-jaw


tabby and white cat
Cinnamon can't decide what color she is!

Cinnamon

Rescued from a house with too many unspayed and unneutered cats, the enthusiastically friendly and uniquely-marked Cinnamon is looking for a home.

Lily and Xena and their two litters of kittens were also rescued from this same house by the same people, all rescued and cared for and paid for by two long-time cat-rescuing friends of mine. They found homes for Lily and Xena and all the kittens, now let’s help them find a home for Cinnamon, Rescue No. 17 for them this year.

Cinnamon is about five months old, very loving and playful and hugs whoever picks her up, purring loudly. She likes being upside down. All the other cats in the household are very calm with her. According to her rescuers, she is the most loving rescue cat they’ve ever met! She’d do well in a house with other cats, but no kids.

If you are interested in Cinnamon, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with her rescuers.


cat in carrier
Loca, will remove your face for free.

Loca

Loca is not up for adoption, at least at the moment, but she is a good story.

Sort of unfortunately, she has a home, people who left her up a tree for a week and while she was being rescued did not even come outside to see.

Others found a tree service company who had an employee who just happened to be related to a cat rescuer and was glad to use his skills for Loca! They successfully got her down from the tree though she was not at all happy about it and tried to rip her rescuer’s face off. They got her into a carrier and took her to the steadfast Dr. Morrow for an exam and treatment after her week in the tree. The attitude traveled with her, as it turns out she is a tortie with more than her share of tortitude. To date she is eating and seems to be doing well, still threatening Dr. Morrow with facial reconstruction.

If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and either need a tree service company or need to get a cat out of a tree, the ones who did the good deed were Keelen Brothers Tree Service, Inc., keelenbrotherstreeservice.com.


Dr. Morrow happily sedating cats.
Dr. Morrow happily sedating cats.

HCMT spays and neuters 108 cats in one day

Speaking of the steadfast Dr. Morrow, there she is “knocking cats out”, or sedating them for surgery.

The Homeless Cat Management Team (HCMT) held another clinic on Sunday, October 21 mainly for feral cats who were spayed and neutered for free. Many of the same people who are rescuing the cats mentioned above and others also volunteer at this clinic as well as bring their strays and ferals to it.

Another huge effort at trapping cats and carting them to the HCMT clinic in Tarentum along with other rescues brought in 108 cats for surgery. Yes, 108 cats were spayed and neutered in one long day, ending around 10:00 p.m., that after being awake late into the night on the nights before in order to trap the cats. But, again, that’s a lot of homeless cats who will never be born.

At their clinic in September, 113 cats were treated, and in August 87 cats were spayed and neutered.

This is how TNR works. And it really does.

You can read more about HCMT and their clinics and donate to ensure they continue. You can also visit Frankie’s Friends and read more about Dr. Morrow, and also donate to that effort and the veterinarian who treats plenty of stray and feral cats.


four kittens
Four lovely kittens.

Four Kittens

In July a friend, Melody, took in a kitty from friends who had been adopted by the cat. She was living under the neighbor’s porch and every time they went outside, she ran out and over to them for attention and food, they lived near a busy street and were concerned about the traffic. Melody scheduled a spay appointment and took her in for them but found she was pregnant and close to delivery, decided to cancel her spay appointment.

cat nursing kittens
Boots nursing her kittens several weeks ago.

The four adorable little girls are now looking for their forever homes! They were 11 weeks old on 10/21/12 and had their first vet check. All are healthy and received their first shot (ouch!). The largest was the little black kitten who weighted in at 2.1 lbs, so they need to gain weight before being spayed. Their momma, “Boots” is also up for adoption. She is still just a kitten herself too, maybe around 11 months old.

The kittens and momma cat have had their first vet checkup and shot, but she intends to get momma cat spayed as well as the rest of the kittens, as she can afford to do the surgeries. Adoptions will cost a bit to help her offset the cost of caring for them.

Melody has a house full of cats and a dog, and one of her foster cats is a big, friendly eight-year-old neutered male cat who is unfortunately both FIV and FeLV positive. He does need to be separate, which is difficult in her home. If anyone can possibly take him in, please contact Melody.

Any one interested can contact Melody via email at [email protected] or call her at 412-494-6956.


cat on exam table
Smudgie with her person at the vet.

An Update on Smudgie

I wrote about Smudgie over the summer when she miraculously returned three months after disappearing but with life-threatening injuries that probably resulted from being caught in a leg trap for some period of time as well as other injuries on her head and neck. Down from 14 lbs. to 4.5 lbs., dehydrated and severely malnourished, she still managed to drag herself home to the person who had originally shown her such kindness and taken her in as a forever cat.

She is actually recovering and doing very well, and she has something to say to you.

A story of feline gratitude from SMUDGIE BANE:

My whiskers are smiling, my tail is flicking…………MEOW to all of you humans out there helping me to go on!

I WANT TO LIVE !!

 It’s been a rough road, but my “person”, Patti, has tried to make it as easy for me as she can.

I ran off in May of 2012, not knowing the hazards out there that could (and eventually did) bring me harm L  After three very long & scary months……….I knew, I just KNEW if I could only get back home my “Mom” would take care of me.

I finally arrived back at my Home-Sweet-Home in August, 2012.  I was not quite the beautiful feline creature that I was prior to my adventure.

photo of cat's healing legs
Click this photo to see a larger version.

Mom got busy and rushed me to the Vet.  It looked grim, but the Vet was very hopeful, as my Mom & I were too!  I still have weekly trips to Dr. Mendenhall and the super-vet tech girls at Chartiers Animal Hospital!   They change my bandages; give me shots and all kinds of “yucky” medicine to take home.  I can handle it; after all I’m a pretty tough kitty! I’m eight years old and have been with my Mom for about 7 years. I love her so much, and I know she loves me too !

My wounds are healing SO SLOWLY…………..and the lump under my neck is being watched carefully by my Doctor.

PLEASE TRY TO CONTINUE HELPING ME IF YOU CAN.

Pray for my recovery and also all of the other animals in need.

AGAIN, GREAT BIG MEEOOWWS to everyone !!

Please donate if you can

There are various ways you can contribute to Smudgie’s care. Animal Care & Welfare has given assistance to Smudgie’s vet bills. You can donate directly to them in Smudgie’s name, or just to help replenish what’s in their available funds to help other animals.

Donations can be made directly to Chartiers Animal Hospital for “Smudgie Bane” by calling 412. 279.7300.

And of course there is a ChipIn, this managed by Animal Care and Welfare: http://smudgiebane.chipin.com/smudgies-recovery


And there are still a few mom cats and kittens and a few seniors who are looking for a home.


All images in this post were given to me by the rescuers and sole copyright belongs to them. Please share this story with a link.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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