The Tripawds Foundation ASAP grant #27 goes to Tripawds member ourcatlittle to help pay for senior tri-kitty Little’s feline amputation surgery. Read on for her story, and learn more about the Tripawds Amputation Surgery Assistance Program to see if you qualify for pet amputation financial assistance.
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Little’s Feline Amputation Story
My name is Aubrey and I am applying for feline amputation assistance for my dear friend Little. We adopted Little in 2015 and since then she has become a best friend to my husband, two boys, and even our newest cat member Benny. It took me a few months to get used to her sassy personality but after we lost our cat Toonces last year, she and I have become extremely close, we both lost a best friend that day.
My husband and I work very hard to provide a good life to our children and our cats. I am a full time graphic designer, a Program Director for a local non-profit and a Co-Director of a Mental Health Program. My husband is a very talented full time musician, graphic artist, and a loving stepfather to my two boys. We live on a modest income, working from home so we can have flexible schedules to pick up the kids from school and take side jobs when needed. My oldest son Aidan is 15 and a sophomore in high school – sweet, quiet and brilliant. My youngest son Weston is 9 and in the fourth grade – he’s a silly, artistic and loving kid. They are both in love with our cats and spend a lot of time caring, feeding and playing with them.
A few weeks ago, I noticed Little was not “up and around” like normal. She usually wakes up and has coffee with me and says hello to the kids before school, I figured she just had a late night and started work in my office.. it’s really our closet with a desk in it. After an hour or so, I heard her moving around below my dresses in the closet and asked her to join me, she declined. Sometimes we all want a day that we can just lazily cat-nap so I left her be. She came out soon after with a severe limp and acted like all was well – we of course was terrified and called the vet. It was an hour before they closed so they recommended I bring her in first thing since she wasn’t crying in pain and was eating and using the litter box.
We thought maybe she had a rough tussle with Benny that night and maybe he love-bit her a little too hard. There wasn’t really any signs of wounds, a little light scratch and a really swollen paw so we did as instructed and brought her in first thing. Because we live on a tight budget (don’t we all), our vet offered assistance from the Humane Society of $100 towards her visit! They assured me that they would be considerate of my financial situation and would call me before any major decisions were made if she were to need any procedures. Hours later, we got the call that Little had somehow dislocated her “ankle” resulting in torn ligaments and tendons, it was much worse than we ever expected. We were devastated when they told us that the only real repair was amputation and that the other options would not suit her. Little is a very active gal – she’s fast and limber and still on the young side so we immediately worried this would hinder her from continuing an active lifestyle.
A week passed and we took her in for feline amputation surgery yesterday morning, (October 3rd) and the entire day we busied ourselves with work and cleaning to prepare for her coming home. We wanted everything to be perfect. When she came home last night, she was still very “out of it” and insisted on walking everywhere which meant she would immediately fall. We held and rocked her to sleep for hours which was so nice since she really hates being held. She finally tuckered out around 10pm and woke up this morning walking on three legs, up a step to the kitchen and down a step to the laundry room where her litter box is. She tires easily obviously but it’s a start!
Little has a long road ahead of her, we do too. Grief and guilt – “what could we have done?”, “what happened?”, “this has to be awful for her” – all of these thoughts still come to mind and will hopefully be replaced with “man, can you believe she did that with three legs?!”. We were fortunate that this surgery happened when it did – had it been a month ago or even 2 weeks from now, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it, we would have had to taken out a loan. We were always meant to have Little with us forever and we know that even though it puts a pretty big financial stress on us for the rest of the year, she is worth every penny. From the bottom of our hearts, thank for you having this grant program, we know it helps so many in need when they need it most.
Thank you for everything you do.
~ Aubrey and Little (aka: ourcatlittle)