TippedEars: Emergency Medical Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant made a huge difference for both TippedEars and for little Sabrina. Thanks to your support, we were able to move forward with her amputation and the care she needed without worrying about taking funds away from the many other cats and kittens we help in Compton each week. As a small, boots-on-the-ground rescue, unexpected medical cases can really stretch us thin. Knowing that part of Sabrina’s bill was covered allowed us to keep saying “yes” to the emergencies that come our way.
Your support didn’t just help Sabrina; it strengthened our whole rescue and allowed us to keep helping the most vulnerable community cats who have no one else looking out for them.
How many pets did this grant help?
1
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
During one of our weekly trapping nights, we found tiny 4-week-old Sabrina in a backyard dragging her legs behind her. At first, we thought she had “swimmer’s syndrome,” [a condition in which a young kitten’s legs splay out to the sides as a result of congenital, developmental, or nutritional issues] but radiographs revealed that she had experienced severe pelvic trauma that left her paralyzed.
Since she was so young, the vet wanted to give her a few more weeks to grow and see how she developed. We started Sabrina on pain medication and kept her comfortable. At her next recheck, it was discovered that the nerve damage prevented her from being able to urinate or defecate on her own. Our little Sabrina was going to be a lifelong diaper-baby.
Sabrina went to a neurologist, who has been closely monitoring her condition, and an orthopedic surgeon, and she has been getting acupuncture weekly along with an Assisi Loop for inflammation for the last five months.
At her latest rechecks, the orthopedic surgeon found a femoral-head fracture in Sabrina’s right leg. The neurologist agreed with the surgeon that the leg should be amputated since she has no feeling in it and it has become a danger to her in the long run. We also hope that without the leg getting in the way, she will be able to gain more muscle in her other hind leg, making her more mobile. This surgery was essential for her future wellbeing and comfort.
Sabrina had her leg amputated and she is getting around better than ever! While she was already a wild child, she’s now able to get into even more trouble! Sabrina has fully healed from her amputation and is available for adoption as a special-needs baby.
