8-25-12 – Help needed – Friends of Felines, Wilmington, NC

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Please help if you can – and if you can’t, please spread the word! (Kitten pic way down at the bottom for you to admire after you read the post and then admire Hattie and Broke Tail.)

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you will consider this plea request and also share with others. I am a Friends of Felines clinic coordinator and volunteer caregiver in Wilmington, NC. Hattie and Broke Tail are Friends of Felines (FOF) cats. Our mission is to humanely trap/spay/neuter/vaccinate and return stray and feral cats to their natural habitat keeping them healthy and from reproducing. Caregivers then feed the cats. Often these cats will need medical attention for illness and/or injuries. Six years ago FOF began a separate fund to help with these issues. The fund has always operated through kind donations from individuals, as the general FOF account can only be used for spay/neuter/vaccinate. The medical fund account is now less than $200 and we have two wonderful cats who are in desperate need.

Hattie lives in a mobile home park and we think she had an encounter with a moving vehicle. She is the gray tabby cat and you can see by her x-ray her pelvis was broken on the left side. She also has an injury to the right ham string. She was found by her caregiver and FOF was called. Hattie has been in Needham Animal Hospital since 8/15/12 receiving excellent care and treatment. Once she is well enough to go back to the mobile home park, she will begin living inside with her caregiver.

Broke Tail was a stray feral who was growing up on the streets of downtown Wilmington when he was spotted by FOF living in one of the feral colonies. “Broke” was born with a deformed right front leg, of which he has no use, and a deformed tail – hence his name. Because of his deformities he cannot defend himself, therefore, he could not remain on the streets. His caregiver relocated him to her contained colony on her property where he would always be protected. Unfortunately, it cannot protect him from illness. Broke stopped eating two weeks ago which alerted his caregiver that something was wrong. He has a large infected mass pressing against his stomach and has spent two days at Needham Animal Hospital thus far. He is currently being force fed and on antibiotics. He is scheduled for surgery on 8/30/12.

Needless to say, the medical bills for these two precious animals are expected to reach approximately $3,000 (even with the kind discount FOF receives along with some gratis mark offs). Needham Animal Hospital has always treated “the forgotten ones” as if they were personal pets.

We are asking everyone who can to please donate to Hattie and Broke Tail’s care. You can mail your contribution to Friends of Felines, 6406 Ashton Ct., Wilmington, NC 28412 or Friends of Felines, P.O. Box 475, Castle Hayne, NC 28429. You can also visit our website at http://www.friendsofelines.org/ to donate via a credit card. Please remember to note MEDICAL FUND on your donation. [Edited to add: If you can’t access the web site, you can send a donation via Paypal to friendsofelines@aol.com ; be sure to note “Medical fund” on the donation!]

Friends of Felines is a 501(c)3 nonprofit so your donation will be tax deductible. We will acknowledge every donation with a return thank you note.

NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL – PLEASE HELP THESE PRECIOUS ANIMALS.

Hattie.

Hattie’s x-ray.

Broke Tail.

Update, 9/1/12:

Hello Friends and Family,

Wonderful update. Hattie is now with her caregiver and healing nicely. She will see the doctor next week for a follow up. We pray she will continue to improve each day. Broke Tail had a successful surgery today and is resting comfortably. The mass was successfully removed and a biopsy was taken. There seemed to be no suspect cancer cells but we are wanting to determine the cause of the infection if at all possible. According to Dr. Batts, with more antibiotics, Broke Tail is expected to make a full recovery. I saw him this evening and he seemed to recognize my voice. He will return to my home and continue to be under my care.

Blessing to each and every one of you who have given you thoughts, love, and donations to help these two animals.
We now are working toward helping Onyx (see our website) get his eyes healed so hopefully they do not have to be removed. X-rays are not showing the BB pellets imbedded in his eyes….that is a good thing! Please keep this little one in your prayers.

To all, you mean the world to these “forgotten ones.”

Jane O’Brien, Clinic Coordinator Volunteer

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Petey hopes y’all realize that Caturday is for relaxin’.

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Previously
2011: Volunteer Purslane, growing in one of the empty raised beds.
2010: I DID NOT toss Bolitar over the door, even though it sounds like it.
2009: The many faces of sweet little bunny Terry.
2008: Naturally, Zoe was all “Hey, this is cool! I like this!” and took up residence.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.