Just a few days after Christmas, a small kitten named Iris was attacked by a dog. Just a couple of months old, the kitten was rushed to Lollypop Farm in need of emergency veterinary care. With her jaw broken in two places, a large puncture wound on her face, and blood collecting in her right eye, we weren’t sure she would survive.
After x-rays were taken at the shelter, our veterinarians stabilized her tiny jaw so that it would heal. Unfortunately, Iris took a turn for the worse and stopped eating. Still the Lollypop Farm veterinary team did not give up. An esophagostomy feeding tube was placed, so that she could be fed until she was strong enough to eat on her own. One of our veterinary technicians took it upon herself to go above and beyond taking little Iris into her home and feeding her four times a day.
Sadly the lens of her right eye was also ruptured, and our veterinarians had to remove the eye in order to ease her pain and prevent future suffering. Iris’s eye may not have been able to be saved, but thanks to you this 3-month-old kitten grows stronger every day. Soon, she will be ready to find a loving new home.
While we provided Iris with urgent care, it’s only thanks to our generous community that little Iris receives a second chance. “Many of the animals brought to Lollypop Farm have medical needs and stay at our shelter for an extended period of time,” says Medical Director Dr. Cristina Cadavieco. “Without community support, we could not keep pets here, sometimes up to six months, to provide them with the extra veterinary services they need. It’s really our community that makes this kind of lifesaving work possible.”
We recently celebrated reaching a 91% save rate in 2020. A high-standard in the animal welfare community, this metric is reflective of the individual care given to pets like Iris entering the shelter daily.
