The phone rang while I was in a staff meeting today. A good samaritan was trying to catch a stray dog that was in really bad shape. Would we be able to help?
Yes, even though we’re a sanctuary for wild cats, I can’t tell you the number of phone calls I get about all sorts of animals in need. Of course, we’ll do everything we can to help any animal suffering.
That’s how this sweet little girl ended up at our gate. Though she should weigh 70 lbs, she’s so emaciated she weighs only 38 lbs. She has mammary tumors, as you can see in the photos. She’s partially blind with cataracts.
As hard as the photos are to look at, you can imagine how heartbreaking it is to see a stray like her in person. And yet, she’s so sweet and trusting, despite how she must’ve suffered.
The plan for helping her
I had one of our caretakers rush her over to our local vet to be examined. She’s approximately 9 years old and is heartworm negative but positive for lyme disease. The vet x-rayed her tumors and I’m thankful they haven’t metastasized. Once we can get some weight on her to improve her health, they can be surgically removed.
Her vision could be fine if she has cataract surgery. She’s staying at the vet overnight to receive hydration before returning to the sanctuary.
We’ve reached out to a special rescue group to see if they can accept her into their program. We will hear this weekend. We will continue to care for her until she finds the perfect rescue group or home.
I know you’d do the same thing we did, taking in a stray dog in need. You’d also want to give her a chance to finally know compassion, too.
Saving a life is expensive. I hope you might find it in your heart to help us help her? Any donation, no matter the size, will help us get her the treatment she needs right now.
Thank you for caring about others ~ as much as we do for the cats in our care, too.
UPDATE – October 11, 2017
We were sorry to find out that Cookie has been diagnosed with diabetes, too. Her glucose levels came back very high and may be a reason why she is afflicted with cataracts. We’ll be administering daily insulin and monitoring her levels. We’re hoping to stabilize it so she can begin to put on the weight she needs for future surgery.
