Sonnet and Haiku
Sonnet and Haiku were born with a condition called Tibial Hemimelia. They’re each missing either their entire tibias or only have partial tibias. This caused their back legs to twist unnaturally and made everyday tasks, such as using the litter box, difficult for them. After consulting with an orthopedic surgeon at Oregon State University I decided to pursue surgery for the both of them in the hopes their quality of life would be improved. I am ecstatic to say the experimental procedures paid off and while Sonnet’s legs are a bit rigid, she’s still able to prop herself up and run with them which had been impossible before.
Latte
I got Latte when he was a very sick one-week-old kitten. He and his sister, Matcha, needed to be tube fed because they were too congested to eat on their own. I kept them in an incubator so I could control their environment as much as possible to try and help them get over the virus that had taken over their bodies. When Latte was about 3 weeks I noticed his chest was caving in. He was diagnosed with pectus excavatum and had emergency surgery at 5.5 weeks when the pressure from his sternum caused one of his lungs to collapse.
Tigger
I was contacted by a friend about Tigger and agreed to help raise funds to have his legs worked on by the same surgeons who helped Sonnet and Haiku. He had more bone to work with than they did and he’s made incredible strides since his surgeries! You can keep up with him on Instagram @theswiftiekittens.
Click here to see on Instagram
Phaedra
I got itty bitty Phaedra from another foster parent who couldn’t bring her to work anymore but knew she needed someone to force feed her throughout the day. She didn’t want a bottle and was old enough to transition onto wet food but she wouldn’t eat. I became desperate and bought a variety of food to try and convince her that food is delicious but the only thing that worked was a premade raw food for cats. She was my first raw fed foster kitten and I’ve been hooked ever since.
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