7/7/22 – And now for some happy outcomes. This is Pipsqueak. A woman who works at a veterinary clinic contacted me and said that a little kitten had been dropped off in their parking lot and she took the kitten in. Unfortunately, it turned out that the kitten had a condition called ‘anal atresia’ which is the “congenital absence of an anal opening”. This wonderful woman, Kim, had already invested a great deal of money hospitalizing Pipsqueak only to find out that she needed specialty surgery which could only be done at Michigan State University. That is when we were contacted. I offered to cover the consultation fee at Michigan State while more funds could be raised for the final surgery. Kim said they 4 Paws 1 Heart was the only rescue who responded to her call out for help. Now, just to clarify, this condition results in a child, cat, and/or dog being unable to release their feces. In a simple way, I understood it to mean there is an absence of an anus. So, Michigan State saw Pipsqueak and surgery was scheduled and we again helped with the surgery, along with some. Pipsqueak’s surgery, which basically entailed building an anus, was completed with 3 surgeons performing the surgery. After the surgery, Kim called and advised that it was successful and along with building an anus, this poor baby was found to have a great deal of hard rock feces in her little body which was also removed. On June 28, Kim updated me and said that Pipsqueak was doing great, playing like a kitten and moving her bowels normally. Hopefully, Kim will keep in touch as Pipsqueak continues to recover and grow. Here is Pipsqueak’s before and after photos. – diana.
