Success Stories

Roadie

We had just finished dinner when Dan, one of our volunteers called. He was coming home onto the island and just came over the bridge to see a kitten run over in the road. Grabbing everything we thought we would need, we ran. He was off to the side of the road by the time we got there-laying in the grass. All traffic had stopped and several people were out of their cars with towels and jackets to help capture the little kitten. As we approached, he ran back out into the road in a panic. We coaxed him back onto the grass and Jim was able to grab him. Into a carrier he went and off to the Emergency Vet Hospital on Pine Ridge Road. No way to know how bad the injuries were. Blood was dripping from his face. His side was ripped open and he could not use his front right leg. Such a cute kitten- a gray tiger. Was he still breathing? The trip takes so long when you want to get there in a hurry.

Dr. Eric Madison at the Emergency Vet Hospital is one of the best vets around. After a thorough exam, this little boy was pretty lucky. A badly fractured front right elbow, scrapes and cuts on his face, lots of stitches and a drain to put his skin back together on his left side and a broken toe.

We had no idea whether the kitten was wild or not. “Roadie” soon showed us that even if he was wild, he was so very grateful. Purrs and kneading paws greeted us as we put him into his recovery cage. He has not stopped purring since. After an exam by Dr. Ruth Eisele from Harborside, one of the best vets in Collier County and an orthopedic specialist, she recommended that he stay in his cast and heal without surgery because his bones are still growing and she has seen many kittens with injuries that knit back together very well.

Roadie recovered with FLYING COLORS and now lives with his amazing forever family.

 

 

Bubblegum & Tigger

Bubblegum and Tigger were rescued by a neighbor who found them at 6 weeks old under a pile of crumpled pool cage material from hurricane Wilma. They were a mess with eyes full of yellow goop and full of fleas. They both had wonderful personalities from the beginning- full of spirit and energy that only a kitten can have. After getting them cleaned up, we noticed that their eyes were funny looking and Bubblegum’s left eye looked shrunken and small. We made an appointment with Dr. Wolf, the eye specialist. He is the best in Southwest Florida and has helped many of our kittens through some bad eye infections. Turns out that poor Bubblegum and Tigger were born without fully developed upper eyelids and Bubblegum’s left eye never had vision in it from birth. They needed lubricating drops in their eyes daily to compensate for the lack of tear ducts. This would have to be done for the rest of their lives.

With thousands of totally healthy kittens available for adoption, we knew that the girls had little chance of finding a loving home, much less a home together. The sisters were so close- playing, wrestling and chasing each other endlessly. Every weekend we took them to Petsmart and every Sunday we came home with them to the shelter.

One Saturday, Christine stopped by. She had been in several Sundays in a row and had seen the girls waiting patiently in their cage at the store. “Why are these cute little girls still not adopted?”, she asked. We explained their need for daily eye drops as we had many times before to too many people. “That’s all?” She said. “Well, they simply have to come home with me!”

To say that Bubblegum and Tigger are enjoying the life of spoiled little kitties is an understatement. They get their eye drops 3-4 times a day and just about anything they want in between. Charlene adores them and they adore her! What a happy ending and thank you Charlene for giving the girls such a wonderful loving home!

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