Precious Pets Almost Home Association

Want to join me in making a difference? We're raising money to benefit Jasper, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to Jasper and PPAH.

Jasper is a black and white male kitten with a sturdy build and a personality bigger than life. He is one of the sweetest cats you'll ever meet! He is just a big fur ball of energy! When he sees you approaching to pick him up, he raises his arms in the air for you in happy anticipation of the loving he is about to receive. He adores to be picked up and hugged and giving him kisses brings on the loudest purr of happiness. And he kisses back! Right on the nose.

Jasper loves life and always has plenty to say as he walks around and talks to whomever will listen to him.  And most afternoon naps are spent on the cat tree with or without his buddies. When you lay down for a nap or for the night, there will be a soft ball of purring fur curled up under your arm! But before he settles in, he gives you a rub and places his scent on you.

Jasper’s love extends beyond people. He is a team player and good sport with other animals, as well. He often can be found bathing his foster brothers when not wrestling, sleeping together and playing.

Jasper was rescued by a long-time PPAH supporter and volunteer and shortly thereafter admitted into our rescue network.  After some time in and out of the ER with his sister, she passed away and he barely made it.  Jasper ultimately bounced back strong, but has always shown symptoms of a URI – congestion, sneezing, mucus discharge.  After many months of various treatments and 2nd and 3rd opinions, as well as appointments with two different specialists, the conclusion is that Jasper is suffering these symptoms due to severe scarring in the nasal passageways from the infection that almost took his life when he was a baby.

Jasper lives with various medical treatments that are administered three times each day. He's a good sport and just lays there while drops are inserted in each nostril and his anti-biotic is administered orally.  He sneezes, coughs a bit, then pulls himself together and runs off while panting and breathing through his mouth. All of this medication is necessary to keep the mucous at a minimum so it does not completely block the small opening he has to breathe through. Every 4 - 5 hours, this treatment is repeated and he lays there and accepts it.   Maybe he knows it helps him.  Our theory is that he has been treated with so much love that he trusts anything his foster parents do to him. Although he tolerates it, this is not a way to live.  In fact, he won’t be able to live this way for long since antibiotic resistance is expected to arise sooner rather than later.

Jasper plays and is fortunate enough to have a foster brother who seems to understand his breathing difficulties.  Sometimes the wrestling has to cease while Jasper catches his breath and his playful buddy sits patiently and waits for him to recover.

All of the doctors Jasper has seen share the opinion that Jasper is an otherwise healthy, friendly, and very special cat who deserves to be fixed and live a normal life.  The only way to fix him is to expand the scarred area with a balloon and place a stent in his breathing passageway.  This procedure will be preceded by additional lab work and a CT scan.  Although Jasper will never be 100% normal (he will likely always be a little snotty and might have a propensity for infections in the nasal area) with the proposed surgery, he is expected to life a long, happy life.

Often in the night, Jasper comes to his foster mom for comfort, maybe out of fear, and she holds him and talks him through his panic.  Once calmed down, he breathes easier and falls asleep in her arms.  Hopefully, you can tell that we love Jasper so much, not just because his health is scary, but because he has so much love to give and does not deserve to suffer this way. 

At some point, the antibiotics will stop working for Jasper and he will not be able to breathe.  The only way out for this sweet cat is this very expensive stent surgery. Depending on how invasive the scarring is, the cost of the stent procedure ranges from $4,600 to $6,500.  We won’t know the full extent of the damage until he’s under anesthesia for the CT and ballooning procedures. Jasper’s expenses to date, minus his original stay in the ER include: initial medications, daily life-sustaining medications, exams, tests, consultations, etc. exceed $3,600. At this point, we are looking only to raise the funds needed for future care, and are asking you to help us raise the $4,600 we know we will need (even though it may be more).  We are dedicated to raising the funds to make this happen.  Please help us keep our commitment by donating any amount to this gofundme, or by sending your check in the mail to: Precious Pets Almost Home, PO Box 411855, Chicago IL 60641. Thank you!

We thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, and financial support.  Due to some very generous donors, we were able to raise the $3,600 needed for all of Tabitha's pre-op and reconstructive surgery bills.  We never dreamed that her journey would end with a leg amputation and the additional charges for the amputation have caught us very off guard.  In order to continue rescuing as many cats as we have, over 60 so far this year, we really need help to off-set the new bill of $2,042.00.  Please donate anything you can to help Tabitha heal and to assist PPAH in its mission to rescue, foster, adopt.

Many of our volunteers and supporters have been eagerly awaiting an update on Tabitha.  For any of you who don't know Tabitha, she is a special cat who holds a very special place in our hearts. When we rescued her, she had an old leg injury that had healed up, but rendered her left-right leg unusable.  Before she even came into our care, we felt very connected to her and made a commitment to Tabitha that we would do anything we could to improve her health and mobility.  After seeing a very well-regarded surgeon, we were told that we could take one of three actions: do nothing, amputate, or reconstruct the leg.  Given the high chances of success for the reconstructive surgery and the outpouring of support for Tabitha, we decided that the best course of action was to give Tabitha use of her broken leg once again. 

Tabitha made it through her surgery and into the second week of recovery.  That's when things took a turn for the worse.  Tabitha was rushed to the vet and upon arrival had a high fever and something obviously wrong with her leg.  She was in great pain and had to be sedated to remove the bandages and examine her paw.  Upon examination, it was discovered that a screw had come loose, causing great pain and distress.  It was also made clear that, due to the lack of bone development after her initial injury, her forearm bones were way too small and delicate to sustain the implant.  It was with very emotional, heavy hearts that we accepted the only option at that point was to amputate. We are devastated that Tabitha had to go through all of this.  But, we are happy to report that she is recovering very well. Since she had not had use of that leg in so long, we expect that she will be up and running on three legs as soon as her incision site heals.

 Tabitha’s disposition remains sweet and we know she's anxious to get out of her crate and explore.  In a few weeks we can let her out to adjust to her new situation but we think she'll do just fine.  In the meantime, one of our volunteers is administering huge doses of love and affection!

This is Delila.  Look at that big, pregnant belly.  This is a photo of Delila is resting in the guest room in the home of one of our fosters.   She is about ready to deliver kittens.  According to the vet, she has 4 babies in that big tummy. 

Delila is blind.  She was found motionless in a parking lot by a good Samaritan who to ok her to County Line Hospital in Steger, IL. Her neck had an extreme tilt to the right; her left pupil was enlarged and her right eye barely open. She was lethargic, wheezing and had sores on her face. She was given steroids, fluids and so much loving care by these angels who saved her life. One of our fosters who specializes in expecting moms and their births is on vacation. But she saw the posting and asked us to take Delila. This little girl's stay in this guest room is temporary, but the love is no less.  When our foster returns, Delila will be in her expert care. 

When we rescued her on Saturday, we asked all of our friends and family to say a prayer for this little mama - no one should have to endure what she has.

Today - June 26th was a sad one.  Our girl had one stillborn and one lodged baby when we rushed her to emergency. She is having Caesarean and spay with little hope for the remaining two kittens.  The fosters are a wreck, as is our whole team.   We had to charge a down payment of $3,200 at the emergency room for this girl to be cared for.  Please donate to help us cover any care that  Delilah and her two possible remaining kittens need.

Urgent!  Please help!  Sparks is one of several cats that was rescued from a fire that destroyed their home and put the owner in the hospital.   This sweet boy is one of the lucky ones as unfortunately, several of his cat pals in the home did not make it.  Although Sparks is a survivor, he needs medical care for his full recovery.

Precious Pets pulled Sparks from Chicago Animal Control Center (CACC) where firefighters dropped him and others after they were rescued.  This urgent request came from CACC for local rescues to step in and try to save him – and that is what we did.  We rushed him to the vet where they found he had to be hospitalized due to primary and secondary infections from smoke inhalation as well as needing oxygen.  He was severely dehydrated and needed immediate treatments, x-rays and antibiotics for him to make it through the night.

There is one thing for sure, Sparks is a fighter.  He is super friendly and seems to be very grateful that he is on the road to recovery.   As Sparks continues his recovery, we are asking for the community to get involved and support us.  Sparks emergency care reached over $2,000 and he still is not done.

Please help us continue saving Sparks!