Parking Lot Kitten Losing Fur and Hope Needs Help!
Donation protected
This beautiful ginger baby was rescued on valentines day - and just in time to hopefully save her.
I got a text from a Facebook friend @liz_kern_designs
that someone spotted a small orange kitty near at Lincoln Center. It was Valentine's Day and it was going to be 19 degrees outside, so my rescue friend @kimcorrigan and I went looking for her. We only knew she was "near the library next to the statue behind some chairs". Well no chairs - no kitty, but we did see signs it had been there eating. After three hours we ourselves were too cold to hunt anymore, and hoped she had found a warm spot.
The following day we got word the cat was in a very busy parking garage - across the street. This meant this little gal made her way across the mall at Lincoln Center, down some stairs, and across traffic to the Rose Garage and then down two levels. What a survivor!
I can't tell you how dangerous a parking garage is for a kitten - moving vehicles 24 hours a day, too many warm engines for her to be crushed in if someone starts the car with her inside the engine. We were terrified for her. The guys at Rose Garage were wonderfully helpful and two days later this terrified, emaciated, ginger girl made her way into the trap and we got her!
However, her journey has only just begun. I NEED HELP. She was grossly under weight, had an obvious eye infection, was wheezing and choking, and had a bloody discharge from her nose. Yet the miserable little sweetheart let me pet her with one finger thru the cage. This rescue is not going to be a quick treatment and find here a home - she will need to be socialized and her medical care is going to be a slow, expensive process.
Her vet visit cost over $1000. Remember I AM NOT A RESCUE GROUP - or a 501C3. This is just my rent money going to the cat. :) The bill was for the exam, feline HVI & FLV tests, bacterial tests, medication, 2 x sedation, eye stain tests, ear cytology, medicine for bacterial skin infections, injections for antibiotics and steroids, a fecal test, and medicine for round worms. blood tests etc..
The cost of the visit was high because she had to be double sedated for them to examine her mouth and nose and eyes, and she needed lots of medication. After a thorough exam the poor baby has way too many health problems for a 5 month old cat!
- She was having trouble breathing, and has a severe upper respiratory infection, which had to be treated with antibiotics, and will be followed up with more antibiotics if the first round doesn't make it subside. Infection in her nose was bad - bloody bad.
- She has a terrible, rotting smell coming from her mouth, and it turns out it isn't just bad teeth. She has Stomatitis which is a term for extensive, chronic and painful inflammation in the mouth and gums. This is one of the most frustrating challenges for a vet or pet parent as is is difficult to treat. it's caused by a response to external bacteria that makes the affected cats' immune systems go haywire. She has ulcers, bleeding gums, and a bumpy infection on the walls of her mouth. Needless to say she is in pain. She is being treated with antibiotics, and we will wait and see how she responds, but may have to have her teeth pulled. I know from experience with my own rescue cat - teeth removal is extremely expensive.
- She had a radical ear fungus and swelling in her ear canals. The kitty was oozing brown gunk and had build up in both ears. She has been treated with anti fungal ear drops and will need to see the vet again for a status in a couple weeks.
- She has very bad conjunctivitis. This is common in small street kittens and usually results in the eye being removed if the infection goes untreated. We are lucky, she was rescued in time and with antibiotic medication, topical antiviral eye drops, and time, her eyes hopefully will go back to normal. If it turns out to be Parasitic, she will need different meds. In addition, she has Chemosis, a condition where the membranes that line the eyelid and surface of the eye appear to have fluid in them, likely from the Conjunctivitis. This is painful and just awful for a cat.
- She had a toothpick type stick stuck between her toes - possibly someone intentionally stuck it there as it was not in an open spot that could have got it from walking? Her paw will be fine now with topical ointment - but ouchie!
- She is dehydrated and malnourished - this could partially be because of her mouth - she is eating but without proper care eating will be painful and she could stop eating.
- She has not been spayed - so there is that cost coming too.
This gorgeous cat has fur like an Abyssinian. She was fairly clean, no fleas, and it appears she may have at one point someones cat. She was possibly dumped - maybe because of the care needed for her mouth? I mean how did this little creature get onto the upper mall of Lincoln Center? There are few homes in the surrounding block?
PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME IF YOU CAN WITH EVEN A SMALL DONATION. I can not afford her care - I have recently ended my work contract and currently looking for my next paycheck. This could not have come at a worse time. But what were we to do - leave her in the parking garage to die?
I have paid a little over $1000 so far. In two weeks she goes back for more tests to see if the infections are under control. She will need further meds and care. Eventually her teeth will need removed and she needs spayed. ANY amount of a donation - even $5 will add up and help me care for her.
She will also need a home or foster as I am leaving the country at the end of March and will need someone to care for her.
THANKS IN ADVANCE for caring about this ginger scrapper who really wants to live. More pictures to come!
COST ESTIMATE: (Approximate)
$1143.00 Already Spent
$1000 Second follow up visit with tests, sedation, etc..
$500 Additional Meds
$150 Retest for Round worm
$300 Follow up blood panel
$400 Food, Litter, transportation
and then who knows??
and Spay costs...
$2000 - teeth extraction
Organizer
Tiff Winton
Organizer
New York, NY