| Meet Our Miracle Cats |
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| Our little Robbie came to the Foundation after he was rescued off a snowy mountain top by a wonderfully kind-hearted couple. Robbie was starving and so close to death that I was amazed that he had already been in intensive care for 5 days before he came to us. Dr. Ellison's initial exam and bloodwork relieved that Robbie was suffering not only from malnutrition but toxoplasmosis, hemobartenella, multiple varieties of parasites, and liver failure.
But Robbie must have had a whole legion of guardian angels watching over him and sent the blizzard of 2010 to make sure he had a chance for survival. I was fostering Robbie and was worried that when the snow came I won't be able to get him to the vet if he started going downhill. At this point, I was seriously considering euthanasia but just couldn't give up on him after all he'd already been through. So after making sure that the barn kitties had enough food and water for several days, I took Robbie to the Life Center Emergency Room to make sure he would have the greatest chance of living through the next couple of days.
The news from the attending vet was even worse than I anticipated. Robbie's blood glucose was so low that he was slipping into a coma and his body wasn't absorbing any of the medicines and nutrients that we had been giving him. But the vet said they would try to stabilize him and I left him in their care for the duration. It started to snow on my way home and I was sure that I would be consenting to Robbie's euthanasia before the blizzard ended.
But Robbie wasn't ready to give up. After another 5 days in intensive care, Robbie was able to come home and rejoin the family. My little Ranger became his "nurse" and wouldn't leave his bedside and gradually Robbie started gaining strength. We gathered up all Robbie's records and made the trek up to Dr. Tiekert to see if this legend in holistic veterinary medicine could pull another miracle out of his bag of tricks and give Robbie more ammunition for his fight for health.
After several months of holistic care and lots of TLC, Robbie is now healthy, happy, and enjoying his new life as an indoor kitty. Robbie has impressed everyone with his courage and willingness to be a cooperative patient even though he is basically a shy little boy. He is another miracle cat and I hope he has a long and happy life ahead. |
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| Romeo is one of the best exemplars of why the Kevin Memorial Foundation exists and what we hope to be able to accomplish. Our little Romeo is a rarity in the feline world - a juvenile diabetic. Romeo came to us in September 2006 suffering from diabetes, hepatitis, pancreatitis, and lymph node issues. Romeo was so weak that he couldn't even gather enough strength to pull himself into the litter box. With his blood and biopsy results, the specialists warned us not to get too attached to Romeo since they didn't expect him to live very long. But Dr. Ellison, the Foundation's primary care veterinarian, pulled another miracle out of her hat and wouldn't give up on our little boy. After innumerable medicines and lots of groceries, Romeo astonished everyone by making a complete recovery from everything except for his diabetes. With his diabetes under control and Romeo acting like a normal 2-year old cat (and because he was so cute), our sister rescue organization, Cats Are Tops, graciously offered to help us find him a permanent home. After seeing his picture on their web site, one of their previous adopters decided that they had room in the home and their hearts for Romeo. He now has an absolutely incredible new family and can dream wonderful dreams for the rest of his life! |
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| I first met PeeWee almost 17 years ago --- he was a skinny, flea-infested, feisty barn cat who barely trusted humans. Even after several years of hard work on my part to become his friend, he would still occasionally slap the hand that fed him. In January 2001, he developed severe pneumonia and for a while we didn't know if he would pull through. When he finally regained his health and the weather warmed up, I intended to take him back to the barn. But he must have decided that warm beds and the indoor life was what he preferred and proceeded to systematically burrow his way deeply and forever into my heart. Mr. Wee is a Foundation alumni and now MY feisty, grumpy old man who secretly loves every minute of being "grandpa" to the rest of the Thompson and Foundation kitties. He has since developed diabetes, high blood pressure, and is in the early stage of renal failure. But his love of life (and I think of me) keeps both of us taking everything day by day. Mr. Wee has really taught me that its not the quantity of time that we have together, but the quality of our life together. I cherish every day as a blessing and a very special gift and when the sad day comes to let him to, I know that his spirit will remain with me until we're together again. My dear old friend passed away on 25 March 2009 after a long and courageous battle with diabetes and renal insufficiency. He was a wonderful cat who truly changed my life ... Parted from me but never parted from my heart. |
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| Tippy was a feral cat who was trapped, neutered, and released over 15 years ago through the effort of the Cats Are Tops rescue organization. Tippy's colony was under the care of a wonderful gentleman until January 2005 when his own health problems forced him to seek help for the two remaining cats in his colony. The Foundation stepped in and after sitting in the cold for several nights, we finally retrapped the cats and took them for health checks at the Cat Hospital of Fairfax. The female was in good shape, but Tippy was in the early stages of renal insufficiency and had lung damage from an earlier trauma. It was clear that whatever time Tippy had left, he deserved to spend it warm and well-fed and so I brought him home on numerous medicines and hoped that he and his girl friend could adjust to house life after so long outside. Naturally Tippy was frightened and uncertain at first, but gradually he realized that I was a real "push-over" and would jump to satisfy his slightest wish. As Dr. Ellison's meds and lots of "groceries" did their magic, Tippy's health improved and he progressed from hiding whenever I entered his room to sleeping next to me on the sofa and following me around the house asking for attention. Tippy also decided that one of the new cat trees from Furwood Forest was a wonderful place to view the woods in back of the house and seemed to relish his new life. Unfortunately, cancer was lurking behind the other illnesses and Tippy succumbed to it just 9 months after coming to live with us. But time alone isn't a measure of happiness and for those 9 months, Tippy knew the peace of a warm bed and a full belly, the love of his foster mom and his feline housemates, and even the silliness of chasing a ping pong ball on a hardwood floor. His happiness during that time justified all the worry, expense, and ultimate heartbreak and I will always remember his transformation into a sweet and loving friend. |