Success Stories

Apache

Lots of conventions come to Marco Island and the hotels are busy almost year round with guests from all over the country. The employees all know us and when kittens are around, they call. In May, a guest was searching for help. She was feeding some kittens and mom cat under the deck off of her room. She was here for a national native indian convention. Someone had already given her a cat carrier and she had one of the kittens in her room. The next day, we had the other kitten and the mom cat. We fixed the feral mom and put her back out at the hotel to continue to take care of the native palm rats that would overrun the hotel if a few cats were not there. Apache and his brother, Calusa, were frightened but very young and very sick. Both brothers were born without upper eyelids. Calusa was also born with colon defects and had to be euthanized. Poor Apache was by himself. We gave him plenty of love and he adored all the attention. The Animal Eye Specialists in Estero told us what we already knew- Apache would have to have surgery on his eyelids when he was old enough to remove the ingrown hair that was scraping on his eyes like a brush whenever he blinked. Saline drops needed to be put in his eyes twice a day for life. Finding a home for this sweet boy would be slim.

Several months went by and we brought Apache to Petsmart. The bright lights made him squint even more than usual. Jessica stopped by- she had adopted a sweet kitty from us last year and was looking for a buddy for her. She could not resist our little indian boy. He has a loving home now. He came through his surgery ($900 later!) with flying colors and he was able to open his eyes fully for the first time- we all cried!

 

 

Maya

Maya and her sister, Kira, and brother, Harris, were rescued from behind Harris Bank in Naples. They were quite the frightend bunch but soon were playing and enjoying the love and attention we were showering on them. They were growing like weeds and it was time for spays and neuter. When it was time for little Maya, the vet called to tell us that something was very wrong with her rib cage. Her chest bone was deformed and was curling under and pushing on her heart. They recommended a special surgeon, Dr. Hay, in Tampa. Off we went for the 8 hour round trip dirve for evaluation. Maya was in good health other than this deformity and Dr. Hay had a new technique he wanted to try on her. Maya was going to have a stainless steel plate attached to the bottom of her rib cage to straighten out the curled bones as she grew. We drove home after making the appontment and gett the estimate for the surgery- $1500! We didn't have that kind of money available but we were going to find a way to pay for it- Maya deserved to live a long and loviing life.

I opened the mail one day to find a $1000 donation from a wonderful supporter! God had answered our prayers!

Maya was a wonderful patient and everyone loved her at the Tampa clinic where she stayed for 3 days after her surgery. She had an enormous incision and she wore a sweater (which was really the end of a sock with holes cut in it) to protect the stitches). The sweater did not slpw her down- she was a very energetic and fun loving kitten-running and chasing and playing until she wore all the other kittens out.

The economy was starting to falter and adoptions began to slow this summer. We were having trouble finding homes for our healthy kittnes. How were we going to find a new family for Maya?

When she was healed, we brought her to Petsmart and again, our prayers were answered. Her new mom and dad are in the medical profession and work at Naples Community Hospital. "Chest plate? No probem!" they said and they had other young cats for Maya to chase around with her endless energy. They love her and she fit right in to their active family.

 

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