1/20/21 – This past summer, these three kittens, Appola, Athena, and Hera were found roaming in the open yards of Detroit. They went to our friends mom and eventually were tested, vaccinated, and spayed/neutered complements of 4 paws 1 heart. – diana
Category Archives: Abandoned
Kittens During the Pandemic – Born as Strays With Upper Respiratory Infections, One Died
1/20/21 – It was back in October, 2020 when we were contacted by a group who assists stray cats in Hamtramck, MI. We were asked to cover the treatment for upper respiratory infections, vaccines, testing, and spay/neuter for 4 kittens found in a person’s backyard. Our friends at Ferndale Cat Shelter would then take them in to get them adopted. Unfortunately, the rescue group was only able to capture 3 and one passed away before he could get into a veterinary hospital. Our friends at Comfort’s Place in Redford took care of the remaining two kittens and found them homes. – Diana
Cheeto – Update — Once Alone, Malnourished, Losing Fur, and Needing All Teeth Removed — Now Loved With His Own Family
1/20/21 – As I said in an earlier post, here is a little guy who came into our lives July 30, 2020. His now mom, had been taking care of a cat community and Cheeto came walking into it. He had diarrhea, scratches on his eye, fleas possibly causing the fur that was missing around his neck, and was only eating treats. The poor guy would eat fast and was somewhat skittish; he was definitely malnourished. We started off having him seen by All About Animals because he needed to be vaccinated, tested, and neutered but they didn’t want to take a chance doing anything because of his condition; they suggested he be taken to a standard veterinary hospital. We authorized Cheeto to be taken to another partner vet who found he was FIV positive, and was drooling pus — after his mouth was examined, it was determined all teeth would also need to be removed. Once I heard of everything Cheeto needed to get him healthy, I referred him to one of our favorite doctors at Patterson Veterinary in Clinton Twp. By the end of September, Cheeto had been treated, neutered, vaccinated, and had all of his teeth removed. During this two month process, the rescuer and her friend fell in love with him and decided to give him a furever home. Yesterday, his rescuer and now mom reported that Cheeto is doing great and that they LOVE him. Thank you to our many generous donors who give us the ability to help these defenseless animals who have no where else to turn. – diana
Precious and Shadow, Marshmallow, Pumpkin, Buddy Holly, Boots – All Rescued From Abusive Conditions on the Streets
1/19/21 – First let me apologize for being redundant but this past year has truly been the year of CATS/KITTENS. Not because we chose to only help felines but because that is where the majority of calls for help have been. Some of the conditions this past year that resulted in such overwhelming situations were: 1) the shut down of low-cost veterinary clinics like All About Animal, The PAWS Clinic, and the Humane Society of St. Clair for a number of months; 2) the restrictions put on standard veterinary hospitals to only perform emergency surgeries; 3) then when everything opened for all animals, the backlog for owners and rescuers were overwhelming and that backlog continues partly because of the virus procedures put in place for the protection of staff and animals; and 4) with so many people who lost their jobs or had their salaries reduced, a number of pets, unfortunately, found their way back into the wild.
So now, every so often, I will be going back in time to report on the many animals we continued to help throughout the year but whom I didn’t report on just because of the numbers.
Here are five sweet kitties who were taken off of the streets by independent rescuers, some of whom we’ve helped in the past. They all received some medical treatment, typically testing for FIV/FeLV, vaccines, flea/parasite treatment, spay/neuter, and eye meds which are very often needed. I present Precious and Shadow, Marshmallow, Pumpkin, 
Buddy Holly, and Boots. – diana
Buddy Holly, and Boots. – diana
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Satin – Found Her Rescuer in a Detroit Party Store
1/18/21 – Satin found her rescuer in a party store in Detroit. The poor girl looked as though she had been overbred. She will be going to the vet next week to be spayed, vaccinated, tested, and to have two large lumps in two of her nipples examined. Prayers that they are not cancerous. – diana
Chris and Squirrel – Updates – Now 6 Months Old and Getting Ready for Eye Surgery
1/15/21 – In September, 2020 I received the following request for assistance:
“My name is Courtney and I am the director of Paws, Awes & Claws rescue. We have a situation that we would like to assist with, however this year has been a lot for us to keep up with. We have had three different cats need enucleation surgeries (two were double and one single which was unexpected) on top of more routine visits.
However, we have a foster who would like to help and take in two kittens in need. They are coming from a barn life, but their ailments make this difficult and the homeowner cannot afford their care and will not do anything further unless able to surrender them. One of the kittens has a problem with her rib cage. It feels as though it curves inward and seems to cause her pain. As she is growing it seems to get worse and she can not continue to live outdoors this way. She is called Squirrel. The other kitten appears to be very cross-eyed and is beginning to have trouble opening one of his eyes. They call him Cross-eyed Chris. We believe he may be suffering from entropion in one or both eyes causing this problem to get worse and worse as it does not appear to be a URI.
Squirrel is a tabby kitten probably around 9-10 weeks old and I believe she is over the weight to allow surgery soon if needed. However, Chris is small, maybe 6-8 weeks. I believe he appears to be smaller than 2 lbs although probably not by much. He is a little black kitten. I have attached photos of each.
We are wondering if your organization may be able to help us with the costs of taking in these two kittens. As much as it pains me to say it, we just can’t cover these costs right now while already trying to find ways to fundraise in this hard time to cover the current vet bills. Please let me know if this is something you would be able to help with.”
We said YES and had Courtney set up visits with one of the best Dr. Zalac at Orion Animal Hospital. It turns out that Chris has a congenital defect called egenesis which is being born without eyelids. Although Dr. Zalac had never performed this particular surgery in the past, she was confident that she could do it. And, we are also confident that Dr. Zalac can perform the surgery successfully. At the September visit, Chris’ eye had actually fused shut and needed to also be cut open, which was done. She wanted to see Chris when he was about 6 months old. As to Squirrel, Dr. Zalac felt that as long she was not having other issues, she should be ok. Dr. Zalac just advised that she be monitored in that her liver is outside of her rib cage due to her
deformity.
So, here we are and Chris is now about 6 months old and will be scheduled for his surgery. Squirrel will be getting spayed next week and she will again have her rib cage examined. Please say a pray for these sweet babies who owe their lives to a great rescue — Paws, Awes, and Claws, and our amazing and generous donors. Here are some photos from September and now. Chris is the black baby and Squirrel is the Tabby. – diana
Ash and Sammy – Wandered from the Flint River to Their Furever Home
1/11/21 – These little sweethearts wandered up from the Flint River to the home of a kind woman who is willing to give them a furever home but is unable to to have them spayed/neutered, tested, and vaccinated. Unfortunately, like so many others at this time, the homeowner was a server in a restaurant that hasn’t been open. Of course, we are thankful to have been contacted and to have the funds to make this union happen. Ash and Sammy are scheduled to get the works at the end of the month. – diana
Pecan – Update
32 breaths / minute this morning! Down from over 80/min on Friday! Pecan is on her way to kicking This pneumonia’s butt! Normal is 20-30 breaths/ min. Way to go Pecan! And she started to play with her toys!
Gina DeLuca Jenio
4 Paws 1 Heart (Her eye is runny because she just got her plasma drops or is she crying from happiness? No that would be her foster mommy! ) Have a great day!
Pecan – Update – Still Needs Prayers
1/10/21 – Pecan Update. Please continue praying for this very sweet baby who still has a journey ahead of her. Such sweet innocence. Many thanks to our Board member, Dee Gudenau, and great husband, Rick, for taking such good care of her- diana
My husband calls me neurotic…I call it being thorough….I just recorded Pecan at 40/Breaths per minute…. get up and dance people! I know it will fluctuate be we can still do a little dance!
1/10/21 Pecan morning update.
After her nebulizer treatment, eye drops including her plasma drops, breakfast, water and a trip to the litterbox…it’s time for a nappy. Her breaths per minute was 52 compared to 54 yesterday afternoon. We will take the babystep! We are hoping to be able to get the recommended meds for her nebulizer to propel her healing. She will getting her daily dose of Enrofloxacin after her nap….pill form = fun for foster mommy.
Her weight is holding steady last couple of days at 2# 5.5 oz … she has only loss less then 3 oz since this all began! And last night she started to eat A/D wet food along with her favorite…her dry food.
Thank you all for your love and support for Pecan! Hope to post an eye update later today if she will hold still! Squiggly girl. 4 Paws 1 Heart Gina DeLuca Jenio
Sadie – Passed Around and Neglected Has Surgery for a Hematoma
1/9/21 – I was first contacted about Sadie and her buddy, Gizmo in July, 2020. Their owners moved to Florida and left them behind in their home. It was difficult to get them into a vet because of the shut downs and backlogs but a doctor who has since retired got them in and took care of their immediate needs to be tested and vaccinated before going to a foster home. The other day I received the following message from Marci who was involved in the July rescue:
“She’s almost unforgettable, she’s so fat. 
You helped me with her and a male named Gizmo. Their owners had gone to Florida, then decided to live in Florida for good. They didn’t want the cats. The new people moving into the house didn’t want them 
either, but had been leaving food & water for them. She said that’s when Sadie got so fat. Poor cat probably wasn’t sure if she’d get another meal. You covered their exams and vaccinations at Rakestraw. Both cats were already spayed/neutered. As I have a full basement, I took them in. Gizmo comes upstairs to roam around but Sadie hasn’t yet. She’ll sit on the landing thinking it over, then head back down. I haven’t done very well with getting her to lose some of that weight. She’s not a fan of laser pointers or toys. She’s my work in progress. 
” She gave herself a hematoma. I have flushed her ears and, if it was from ear mites, I cannot tell. I am also treating with ointment. Do you ever cover the cost of surgery to fix ear hematomas? I understand that it rarely resolves on its own. – Marci”
either, but had been leaving food & water for them. She said that’s when Sadie got so fat. Poor cat probably wasn’t sure if she’d get another meal. You covered their exams and vaccinations at Rakestraw. Both cats were already spayed/neutered. As I have a full basement, I took them in. Gizmo comes upstairs to roam around but Sadie hasn’t yet. She’ll sit on the landing thinking it over, then head back down. I haven’t done very well with getting her to lose some of that weight. She’s not a fan of laser pointers or toys. She’s my work in progress. ” She gave herself a hematoma. I have flushed her ears and, if it was from ear mites, I cannot tell. I am also treating with ointment. Do you ever cover the cost of surgery to fix ear hematomas? I understand that it rarely resolves on its own. – Marci”Sadie has her surgery appointment scheduled for next Wednesday. The first photo is Sadie now. The next two are Sadie when she and Gizmo were rescued. Gizmo has been doing great in the home; as Marci said, Sadie is still reluctant. Far too many people believe that cats are not social creatures. They believe it’s ok to leave cats alone for days or forever. But just because some cats choose when to hang out with humans doesn’t mean they are not social animals. It is so very sad when an owner abandons their cats and they wind up living without any human interaction when they’ve been used to it. Praying that Sadie’s surgery goes well and that she can lose some weight. She may, in fact, be more social if her ear isn’t hurting any more. What we know for sure is that she is being loved and cared for. – diana