On May 10, 2015, my mother, my sister, and myself were driving and came across a cat that had been hit by a car. He was still in the middle of the street. While he was obviously still alive and frightened, cars kept driving by, not caring if they hit him again. His eyes looked black and his little face was streaked with blood. No one was stopping to help him. People were standing in their front yards just watching this injured, frightened cat stumble around frantically–trying to get away from the cars going by on each of his sides.
So of course, we pulled our car over. I got out and stood in the road to block any incoming cars. My mom and sister were able to get him out of the street and into a nearby yard.
It took several minutes to catch him. He was very, VERY afraid and ran blindly under bushes trying to escape. His eyes were bleeding pretty heavily.
When we finally caught him a kind man gave us a KitchenAid box to carry him in. Since it was a Sunday (and Mother’s Day!) most vet offices were closed and we had to find an emergency vet office.
He started to go into shock in the car and his breathing was labored. After a half hour car ride we got him to the vet and they took him to the back. They checked him for a microchip and discovered he didn’t have one. His fur was very matted on his belly too.
They told us we could take ownership of him or relinquish him to Animal Control. While I admire the people in our government who work hard to save animals, I was afraid they would consider him too far gone and would put him to sleep. I decided to become his cat mommy and signed his papers.
They gave him oxygen and pain medicine. They said his eyes were bleeding badly and he would probably become blind. He could have broken bones from being hit by the car. I knew that if he was in too much pain and decided it was his time to go, the least we could do would be to help relieve his pain.
But he pulled through the first few hours! He started stabilizing. They were able to do X-Rays on him and discovered a new atrocity:
He had two BB bullets lodged in his body. One in his head and one on his side. How can people do this to animals??
The good news was he didn’t appear to have any broken bones.
He does need to have one eye removed, the BBs removed, antibiotics to help his breathing, be tested for FHIV, have blood work done, be neutered, and he might need stomach surgery. His abdomen was very blurry in the X-Rays which could mean something is ruptured.
I’ve decided to name this stray kitty Mr. Sunshine. I think he needs some positivity in his life. I already love him so much and can’t even think about doing anything differently.
Mr. Sunshine has been treated abhorridly by humans his whole life. Please help me begin to make it up to him!! He does not deserve any of these horrible things that have happened to him.
Our vet bills are already at $1,200 and that’s only for day one. Depending on what needs to be done, the surgeries can cost even more thousands. The daily fee just to keep him at the hospital is $250-350.
Please, please, help me. Mr. Sunshine needs people to come together to help him get better. Any amount helps, even if it’s just a dollar. Please tell your friends about him!
Thank you so so so much for reading, donating, and sharing Mr. Sunshine’s story. If, by some glorious miracle, we manage to raise more than we need, I will donate it to local animal rescues.
Love,
Hailee
izzy806
kaledo-art
theartofmadeline
jacobvanloon
