 Lilly. Arrival Date: June 15, 2017
Lilly's sad story first came to our notice when a Facebook post crossed my inbox with a plea for help to rescue her. She had been surrendered for euthanasia as she didn't seem to fit in with her household's other male cats. Lilly is a beautiful, relatively healthy 9-year old spayed female feline. So, we knew that Pets Niagara's caring hearts and hands were the place for this precious soul to come. On May 25th we were ecstatic to announce that Lilly would be welcomed in to one of our great foster homes on June 15th.
Lilly arrived still in a little shock from all of the abrupt changes in her home life that had ensued since her initial surrender in May. She travelled from her original home in Richmond Hill, Ontario, to Niagara Falls, Ontario and then to our rescue foster home in St. Catharines, Ontario.
I met Lilly on Friday, June 9th, 2017 and picked her up on Thursday, June 15th, for transport to a foster home. Lilly is the poor little senior sent for the ‘big sleep’ because she wasn't adjusting well in her previous home. Now, with Pets Niagara, Lilly will never have to face that prospect, again.
By June 26th, Lilly began to feel a little like she’d settled into a loving home. When she first arrived, she had found herself a safe haven beside some film editing equipment and filing cabinets. She still retreats there but at least, now she is starting to slowly explore her wider surroundings. She has her cat tree very nearby, her favourite blanket and her cozy bed. She’s out having a good scratch and roll around on her tree. Yippee!!! We had hoped we could get her settled and immediately put her into our adoption stream as she is going to make some pet parent very happy. She has such vivid green eyes and beautiful colouring. Sadly, though, we received her medical file late the previous Friday afternoon and discovered that she is in need of a dental surgery. Poor girl! We will be sure that she receives the necessary treatment before she's actively available for adoption.
By July 5th, Lilly had settled and was showing us that she was feeling much more safe and happy in her new digs. We knew it was now the right time to take Lilly for a health check by her new veterinarian . We were specifically interested in finding out the status of her dental health as, when we finally received her medical records, it was discovered that she was suffering from advanced dental disease. While there, we had a microchip implanted in her.
On examination, it was apparent that Lilly's teeth haven’t been cleaned or had any tartar removed for several years - most likely for the 4 years that she had been with her previous home. Coupled with the apparent discord between the male cats in her previous home, poor Lilly was ultimately surrendered for euthanasia at the time her then Vet advised of her advanced dental disease.
Lilly does have a large build-up of tartar in the right upper molar and pre-molar areas, which in the opinion of her new veterinarian may have compromised the integrity of those teeth. Her gums in that area look very red and angry, and must be sore.
Lilly needs to have a thorough teeth cleaning which may also involve extraction of one, two or more teeth on the upper right side of her mouth. Poor girl!
The estimated cost is $600 to $800 for just the cleaning and includes pre-op blood tests and IV fluid support, which at age 9 are absolutely necessary to ensure that all goes well with her under anesthasia. If extractions are required, each extraction is estimated between $200 to $300 per tooth and will significantly add to the base cost of the cleaning.
We are a small rescue group devoted primarily to saving pets at high risk of euthanasia - the elderly, the ailing, the senior pets whose owner's have passed away or are going into alternative living homes. We are 100% volunteer staffed and funded only by donations from members of our group and members of our community and our fund-raising activities.
In most cases, we have most of the facts concerning the pet in front of us before the pet comes into our care. In this case, Lilly's medical issues were a complete surprise and somewhat shocking. Those medical problems had not been revealed until she had arrived into our care and were not known by the people who stepped in to save her initially from the euthanasia. Those issues only became apparent after much prodding by us for her medical records from her previous veterinarian.
If Lilly's story has touched your heart and you wish to help us provide this terrific little feline her much needed medical care we would be so appreciative. Your support and contributions to Lilly's medical fund is desperately needed.Lilly's Medical GoFundMe Campaign
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