Kitty and K-9 Connection: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Leonie’s care
The $250 grant was beneficial in ensuring that Leonie received all the medical care she required.
How many pets did this grant help?
One: Leonie’s total bill was $907.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
In February of 2020, an adult tortoiseshell kitty came into Anchorage Animal Care and Control Center with an open wound and missing the tips of her ears. Little did this sweet and loving kitty know, but her life was about to change! Due to the nature of her injuries and the shelter’s limited ability to care for her medical needs, Kitty and K9 Connection was called for a possible rescue. After meeting this darling girl and assessing her sweet nature in spite of her injuries, Kitty and K9 Connection gladly accepted her into rescue, and gave her the name Leonie.
A thorough examination by our veterinary staff yielded a possible explanation for her injuries. Previous outdoor temperatures had been well below zero, and it appeared the tips of her ears had been frostbitten and the dead tissue had fallen off, and while she may have been seeking warmth in a vehicle’s engine or from an exhaust pipe, she had suffered a burn on the back of her neck.
Outdoors in Alaska is no place for a house cat, and after her people had failed her and left her to fend for herself outdoors, she had been trying to survive.
Clinic staff were also impressed by her sweet nature, tolerance to pain, and her easy acceptance of being probed, poked, and examined. Medication was prescribed, and thus began her long process of healing in her foster home. She was given her own room to reduce her stress, help her heal, and make sure she received her medication and adequate nutrition. Leonie soon grew bored with that idea and integrated into shared space with the other foster pets. She continued to heal, received her vaccinations, and was finally medically cleared for adoption.
Fast forward six months and Leonie was at Petco, where Kitty and K9 Connection houses some of our adoptable kitties, waiting to meet her forever family. She gets along well with other kitties and is loving, affectionate, and snuggly with people. A young couple saw and inquired about adoption. They met her and fell in love.
Leonie is finally in her forever home with two other kitty siblings. She is happy, loved, and safe, and will never have to struggle to survive outdoors or go hungry again, thanks to support from funders, donors, and our volunteers. From the kind kennel technicians at Anchorage Animal Care and Control, to our veterinary staff, our funders, volunteers, and adopters, Leonie has shown it takes a village to save an animal!
