Each year, Lucky Cats helps hundreds of community cats. Each with their own unique Cinderella story of transformation from a life of hardship to living the good life as a Lucky Cat.
These cats didn’t choose their life but were destined into heart-breaking situations because people failed to spay/neuter their cats. This is why we work at the root of the problem, to advocate and facilitate spay/neuter for all cats, but we do much more than that too.
We’d like to introduce you to a special cat we helped this year. His name is Grover. Here’s a video of Grover when we first met him.
As you can see, there was something seriously wrong with his leg. Our veterinarian partner, the Animal Hospital of Cornelius, determined he had fractured his right hind leg. At only one pound, surgery was not yet an option. Crate containment and pain management were recommended while we waited for him to gain at least three more pounds.
Within a couple of days, Grover’s foster mom recognized his right front leg was extremely swollen, so back to the vet we went. Grover was then referred to a specialist, Dr. Eric Smith, at Bedrock Veterinary Specialist in Cornelius. We were not giving up easily on this tiny life and neither was Dr. Smith who proceeded to drain a LOT of nasty puss from both the inside and outside of Grover’s right front elbow. Our little guy was an absolute trooper and Dr. Smith commented what a special kitten he was. The drainage from little Grover’s leg was sent to be cultured for septic arthritis which as the name suggests, would not be a good thing.
Grover was placed on antibiotics and sent home with daily dressing changes required to absorb continued drainage. Exactly a week passed during which the leg began to look better, right up until the time it didn’t. Back to the specialist we went. Ironically, the culture arrived back that very same day and was negative for septic arthritis so we could breathe a sigh of relief as far as that was concerned, but still, why the horrible inflammation and continued puss? This is when the unthinkable was discovered. Little Grover had suffered not one, but two broken legs, both on the same side of his body.
This visit determined Grover’s front leg would need to be amputated. Fortunately, he had begun to put weight on his rear fractured leg which meant it was beginning to heal as we hoped it would as he grew. The question all along however was ‘how’ it would heal and whether it would require a future surgery.
Dr. Pinney, at Lake Norman Animal Hospital, was the surgeon for the amputation. He really wanted Grover to weigh 'at least' two pounds but Grover’s appetite diminished as his front leg continued to swell and he suffered from unbearable pain. No one knew why the front leg was swelling, especially since we were trying to keep infection at bay with antibiotics. Dr. Pinney explained we wouldn’t know the ‘why’ until Grover went into surgery, and that depending on what he found, he prepared us that it may be best to euthanize under anesthesia.
We prayed for Grover knowing he may not wake up from surgery. He did not deserve what he was going through. Just a tiny life found suffering at only four weeks of age. We waited anxiously, as you would wait for a family member in surgery, to see how things would turn out for Grover. After all, he was family now! Dr. Pinney reported he believed the fracture in Grover’s front leg was leaking bone marrow resulting in the infection and inflammation. The leg was amputated and… it was music to our ears to hear that our little Grover had woken up. He had survived surgery! Oh, happy day!
Grover came home to his foster mom after surgery and she continued to baby him which he loved every second of. Such a fluffy little snuggler this fella was and full of kisses too. This surgery totally changed his life in the best way possible. As Grover grew stronger, it was time for him to go to his forever home.
In October, Grover was officially adopted by his new family who loves him tremendously, including their cat Sam who adores Grover and has become Grover’s protector and best friend.
We are beyond grateful to everyone involved in Grover's care. As you might imagine, Grover’s veterinary bills have been sizable. We could not have helped little Grover without our supporters’ generosity.
We want to do even more in ‘24. Please give generously this year to help us TNR and help more cats like Grover. We can’t do it without you.