Hazel came to our wellness clinic for vaccines, but when our vet tech saw her, she immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
Hazel was panting and bleeding. Her gums were white as a sheet. The last thing she needed was a vaccine. She needed emergency care.
The family who found Hazel asked to enroll her in our program. We signed her in and rushed her to the emergency hospital.
There, we learned just how much this little cat had endured. Hazel was attempting to deliver four stillborn kittens, with two more she could not expel. X-rays revealed rat bones in her stomach, and bloodwork confirmed rat poison in her bloodstream. She also had a diaphragmatic hernia requiring surgical repair.
Apart from all of that, Hazel was a healthy, alert, exceptionally friendly young cat with every chance for a long and happy life—if someone was willing to give her that chance.
Hazel received vitamin K to counteract the poison and a blood transfusion. During an emergency spay, the surgical team removed the kittens she could not deliver and repaired her hernia.
She came through beautifully.
Today, Hazel is recovering happily in a foster home. Her veterinary bill was substantial. But Hazel represents the most elegant expression of the no-kill philosophy: every animal has a right to her own life. Every animal deserves to be treated as an individual and to receive the care that is right for her—not care determined by convenience, cost, or how complicated her circumstances appear.
Hazel is expected to make a full recovery. She may have 20 more years ahead of her as someone’s beloved companion. Treating her was unquestionably the right thing to do.
Your support does more than save Hazel. It keeps alive the hope in all of us who love animals and believe animal sheltering can hold itself to a higher standard.
A save like Hazel’s—and the community partnership that makes it possible—gives us all a glimpse of what Dr. Jane Goodall called “a reason for hope.”