This horror story details how badly things can go wrong when young kittens don’t receive timely care for an upper respiratory infection. It comes from Kellie Wester, a feral cat rescuer from the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Not only does Kellie practice TNR, she also rehomes many cats who are friendly and has a Facebook community page titled My Friendly Ferals.
Kellie posted the heartbreaking story that began last Sunday when she was contacted by a friend with three very sick kittens who were found under a house. Thanks to an untreated upper respiratory infection, they’re fighting for their lives this week.
“Sunday I was contacted about helping these three kittens. I called and messaged several rescues, but they were unable to help due to lack of foster homes. After several hours of trying, it seemed the only place at these kittens would be able to go to would be the animal shelter that was already filled to the max. I posted on Facebook for help with rescue, people suggested that I do a fundraiser, and I thought long and hard about it. I really did not want to tell the people to take the kittens to the animal shelter, but they needed medical attention. I called and told them that if I could raise the funds that they could drop them off at my vet the next day.”
It truly took an entire animal loving community to get these kittens the surgery they needed. They were dropped off at the vet on Monday, had surgery Tuesday, and Kellie picked them up on Wednesday. It’s unsure how old they are. They aren’t even two pounds yet! One of the kittens lost both eyes and also had an umbilical hernia which was repaired. Another kitten lost one eye, and the third has kept both eyes (as of June 24).
The third kitten will see the veterinarian again on Monday. Unfortunately, the other two kittens started doing poorly on Thursday. Kellie took them to a vet on Friday because they all were running high fevers and had a lot of infection oozing out of the eye socket. They also all have ear infections and are being treated for that. Another antibiotic was added and they are also on pain medication. Kellie is giving the one that kept both eyes several medications in an effort to save the eyes.
Kellie will be dropping them off Monday morning around 10 a.m. for surgery again and will have a vet bill for them spending the night. A YouCaring fundraiser has been set up here. You may also donate via PayPal or contact Kellie on her community page if you’d like to call in a payment directly to the veterinarian.
The bill right now has hit close to $2,000. Add in additional surgery, treatment and spay and neuter once they’re healthy enough and we’re still looking at a “village effort” to raise the funds.
I hope this article is a wake-up call as to what can happen should a cat owner decide not to see a veterinarian for a condition that’s easily treated if caught in time.
Please help Kellie if you can. She’s responsible not only for the care of feral cats but also in getting many of them who are deemed adoptable off the streets and into forever homes.
Elisa
Note: Photos provided by Kellie Wester. Updates will be posted on the Facebook: My Friendly Ferals community page listed above as well as the YouCaring webpage.
Dog fighting and feral cats have nothing in common. You are so off topic I can hardly wait for Michael to kick you off again.
I guess that means if someone who was running dog-fight rings had a huge support group that’d make it okay too and make them right. I love your logic. I’ll pass it on.
J.C. Collins. Thank you for all of your well-thought comments. You’re bringing a LOT of new traffic to this website and thus helping cats everywhere. Again, thank you for the boost to this article. I couldn’t have done it without you!
JC I’m the owner of a beautiful, 100% blind cat I rescued out of the street over 4 years ago. He can do anything my sighted cats can do and surpasses them in some things. I think you are a lonely, insignificant person and you troll pages like this to try and bring some importance to your pitiful existence. Why don’t you try to develop a bit of compassion or at the least, stop complaining about things that don’t affect you?
And another thing. Kellie always seems to jump in blindly without the funds to treat because she has such a huge support group she knows she’ll get the money raised once the need is there. She doesn’t ask to save all of these cats. People depend on her and trust her to do what’s right by them and she’s the go-to person in WAY too many emergencies. I’ve known her to hold cats as they’re humanely euthanized because she knew it was the best thing to do. If these kittens didn’t stand a chance they wouldn’t still be alive.
Don’t worry. J.C. Collins will disappear and be reincarnated as another troll 🙂