Miss Flower, the Kitty With Seven Lives--She Lost Two in the Past Few Months
Miss Flower came to us during a trapping project. She was a skinny skeleton and we didn't realize how sick she was until she went to the vet. Once there, she nearly died while undergoing her spay surgery because she was so anemic and malnourished. Even though Flower was 6-7 months old, she only weighed three pounds. She had so many parasites in her intestines and so many fleas that she was severely anemic and was not able to supply any nourishment to her body because the nasty buggies were taking it all.
Miss Flower nearly died on the operating table. We had to rush her to our full service vet, Riverside Drive Animal Care, and luckily Dr. Kyle was able to save her life. Flower came home to recuperate on medicine, but one morning just a few days later, we found her, not moving and very weak. We rushed her again to Dr. Kyle who was able once more to bring her back from the brink of death.
At that point we had to decide: was Flower too ill to pull through anything more? Should we end her suffering and euthanize her? Or should we try one more thing?
Dr. Kyle suggested a blood transfusion, because Flower was so anemic she was not able to make enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to her cells. Dr. Kyle kindly asked the Riverside resident cat, Mel, if he would donate some blood to our girl. Mel, who is also looking for a home (you can see him on our Petfinder site: www.bandocats.petfinder.com ), quickly agreed and donated blood to save Miss Flower.
Mel's blood did the trick and Miss Flower was soon blooming with health.
We decided on the name Flower because, being black and white, she looks like the little skunk named Flower in the "Bambi" movies. Plus, she was a bit stinky when we first found her (terrible diarrhea did not help her hygiene).
Miss Flower is now twice her original weight and is gorgeous and oh so friendly. We could not believe how friendly she was after coming out of a trap. We thought we had a feral cat on our hands. But she loves to just lay in your lap for hours. She is definitely a lap kitty.
Flower also has a forever home. She will never be hungry or sick again. And she will always be loved.
Lopez, the Three Legged Wonder
Lopez after surgery to remove his left front leg.
Poor little Lopez was only a small kitten of about 3 months when he was found limping around a Plain City trailer park. A nice family was able to catch him and when he was taken to the vet, it was discovered that he was in pretty bad shape. His left front leg had been broken at the "elbow" and healed over. We are not sure if he was hit by a car or abused by a human. In any case, something else awful happened and he had a fresh break at his shoulder. The shoulder break was so bad that the vet decided the leg needed to come off.
Lopez became a three legged cat, but that didn't slow him down. After a short recovery period, he was running around as fast as cats with four legs. He found it great fun to climb to the top of the cat tree.
What we found the saddest, though, was Lopez does seem to have a “phantom” leg. Just as they say people do, Lopez still seems to think his leg is there. When he gets in the litter box, you can see his little shoulder blade moving as he thinks he is using his missing leg to scratch around. When he is unable to cover stuff up, he seems startled, and you see the shoulder blade moving as fast as can be again. The same thing occurs when he is playing. He tries to bat at a toy with his missing leg and you see his shoulder blade moving, but he seems surprised when the toy doesn't go anywhere.
Lopez was recently adopted by Heather, who works in the vet’s office where Lopez had his amputation performed.
We would like to thank everyone at Riverside Drive Animal Care Center for helping Lopez come through his surgery so well. We know that the whole time he was at the office, for the initial surgery, as well as follow up appointments, his feet never touched the ground. That is because everyone had to carry him all around, pressed against their hearts.
The best thing about Lopez is his purr. Before his surgery, he must have been in too much pain to purr. We never heard him purr at all. The vet techs said that as soon as his leg was removed, he began purring on the operating table. And he hasn't stopped since. It must have been such a relief to have that pain stopped.
We love Lopez, our three legged wonder!!!