A little angel accompanied by her wonderful parents came to visit Noah

On Thursday, November 26th, 2009, a little angel by the name of Sage came to visit Noah with her wonderful parents.
Sage is a little girl with a big heart! Her birthday is on Dec.21st, but her mother decided to have her b-day party a month earlier and instead of having people giving her birthday gifts, her parents and her decided to ask their friends and families to give donations towards saving those in need such as Noah.
Together, the Pinto-Miniorgan family collected $540 on Sage's b-day party for Noah!!!
I can't thank them enough and tell you how touched I was when I met little Sage! This is not the first time that the Pinto-Miniorgan family had done this. The first time, they collected $300 for another rescue dog, Frankie, for his eye surgery and even went on our national news! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vx0nR8gSzs
It's so great to have parents teaching their children how to help the ones in need at an early age and help children learn what compassion is.
I also have to say that Kristin & Errol, you guys are so good in choosing names for your children~I just love the name Sage! It really represents what she is!

Thank you a million from Noah and me!!!

p.s. So, as a result with Sage's donation, we've reached our goal for Noah's surgery cost. Therefore, we will be stopping the Chip-In donation program for Noah and any further donations we will receive will go to Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue to help more critters in need!

Thank you for everyone who helped contribute to Noah's cause~~~~
Kisses xoxoxox

Update: November 29th, 2009- Noah's super-skill

You can also watch it on Youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQk7p37KxcQ

Update: November 29th, 2009- before constipated...now explosive diarrhea >_<

Sorry for the delayed updates...I was a bit caught up with cleaning the poops and other things...
Remember how worried I was for Noah not passing any stool for almost a week? Guess what now...he's been having explosive diarrhea since Wednesday! I'm not sure why, but tomorrow I will have to ask my vet to give him something to help control this explosion~~
I'm used to seeing poops and pees but it's for Noah, he gets his paws and behind all dirty with the diarrhea and he doesn't like being washed (not many cats like getting wet...).

On a separate note, for those worrying about Noah the puppy, he's doing great~Started to eat on his own and will cry now for attention. He just loves being held and loved.

Update: November 20th, 2009- Recheck at St-Hyacinthe

Good news from Noah the kitten's recheck today. The doctors think that he is on the right track to recover, however, he will still need to keep that gigantic external fixture and the feeding tube in for 3 more weeks! The doctors didn't mention anything about a second surgery being necessary and I forgot to ask, so I think that might mean that he may not need it because I can see that he can open and close his mouth pretty well~
The only 2 concerns the doctors have were that his walking position didn't seem like a normal kitten/cat would do but they think it might because of the bandage from the feeding tube...I didn't think so but he is definitely walking a lot better than he did 3 weeks ago after the surgery! The second concern was that he only gained 0.5kg in 3 weeks...apparently that's not enough for a growing kitten. So the doctors urged me to feed him more, and maybe more constantly.
I was told by one of the vets (he calculated it) before to feed him 3/4 of the Medical Development can per day added with some water, and I was feeding him almost a full can per day...I was kind of afraid to over feed him and make his stomach explode~~it's very different to feed a kitten by tube than seeing them eat on their own....so my next mission is to make him gain more weight!!

Noah the Puppy needs help too!!!

I put my crocs besides him to show how big he is...I usually wear size 6...he is super tiny!

Today, Nov.20th, 2009, I came across a new owner surrender case of a puppy named "Noah" as well.

He's 3.5 months old, a mix of shi-tzu and poodle (shi-poo), and is diagnosed with parvovirus!

The owner is a backyard breeder (small version of puppy mill, facility that only breed animals for profit) and did not/could not spend the money to treat the puppy so my vet, Dre. Altschuler, convinced him to sign him over to the Montreal SPCA and she had transferred the puppy to my clinic to be treated. SPCA will not have the money either to treat this puppy, so I'm trying to help him by putting him on this blog hoping he will have the luck as my Noah the kitten, to fight this tough disease and hoping someone will also have the generosity to help him as many others did for my Noah the kitten!

Noah the puppy is extremely sick, vomitting dark blood, very low white blood cell counts, lethargic, no appetite, diarreha...basically barely breathing. He is on IV fluids at my clinic now, and I hope he would make through the night. He may need some plasma transfusion and the treatment for this deadly disease may cost $500-$1000!

If you are interested in helping Noah the puppy, please call 514-369-9119 to make a direct donation to the clinic that's treating him now or you can contact me via e-mail. He is under SPCA's file for now~

p.s. If Noah the puppy survives, he will also be looking for a new home!!!! Please help spread the word for him~~

Update: November 16th, 2009- Apointment for recheck at St-Hyacinthe

A quick note to those who are following Noah's progress.

He has an apointment this Friday (Nov.20th) at 9:30am in St-Hyacinthe for a recheck. They will put him under anesthesia again to be able to take series of x-rays. And I guess from that point on, we will have a better idea as to whether he will need another surgery for sure or not.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be necessary.

Another news from today is that we re-did the tear test with Noah's eyes. His "bad" eye, which is the right side of his head that was hit, is still the same, no tear production. Whereas the left eye, is back to 8...(the normal range is between 10-15), so for the left side, we are seeing improvements. We will keep monitoring his "bad" eye and retest him next week...and I'll keep you posted!

Thank you for following Noah's recovery~!!!
He now enjoys having a little break from his "room", he likes to hang out with my dogs and just walk around the living room/kitchen area~One of my dogs, Hana, the lamb-alike dog, likes to lick his face and bum...haha

Noah walking around at the clinic and at my house, meeting my furry kids!

Update: November 14th,2009- Gingivitis

Well, I've noticed for the past couple of days that Noah's been salivating quite a bit, at first I thought it might just because I fed him too fast through the feeding tube and the food came up to his mouth...but I decided to check his mouth (gently of course as he still has the pins in), and found that the left side (non-injured side) upper canine's gum was quite inflammed! Then the gum near the lower left side canine was also inflammed and was bleeding a little.

I thought maybe it was because his baby teeth were growing in and causing this inflammation, but one of my vets had a look at him and thinks what he has were adult teeth~Therefore, he thinks Noah has a bad case of gingivitis. No antibiotics would help (because he was just finishing off the antibiotics from the surgery and they didn't help his teeth either), all I can do now is to monitor...maybe later on, he will need to have his teeth pulled out!

Noah's got the worst luck~~~

Update: November 10th, 2009- More eye meds...

So we did the Shirmer tear test today to find out Noah's tear production level...

it was still the same as last time, nearly none...therefore, he has to be on this eye medication for a while (can you believe it, a small tube of this eye medication called Optimmune is $50!!).

We will have to recheck his eyes again in a month, and hopefully this medication can help him restore his ability to produce tears again. I'm starting to wonder if I should take him to aan ophthamologist specialist to do more testing or wait and see....

We also have to be prepared for the fact that he might need to be on this medication and the artificial tear gel for the rest of his life~I'm sure he will hate me for that because he sooooo hates having things put in his eyes. He's always been very easy going and would let me do anything to him, but when it comes to putting the medicatinos in his eyes, he's getting more and more difficult about it...it will be a big challenge for the future~

He also made a nother poop today, but it was diarreha, so I have to stop giving him the lactulose (a medication to help soften his stools for his constipation).

Other than that, he's a happy little...well growing kitten so far~

Update: November 9th, 2009- One thing after another

At the beggining of last week, Noah was starting a little cold, rhino with sneezing, nasal and eye discharge. The vet prescribed some eye medication and since Noah was already on antibiotics for his surgery, he didn't need more of that.

After his initial doesage of the eye medication, I noticed that his eyes were getting worst. They got really red, immflamed and almost seemed painful for him to keep them open. So I reported this concern to my vet. She then recommended to do a test called "shirmer tear test" (not exactly sure of this is the right spelling). This test allows us to see the level of his tear production. We soon discovered that his tear production is very low...almost zero! So, we had to change his eye medication and add artificial tear gel as well to help him lubricate his eyes.

My vet suspects that maybe from the head injury, it might have damaged his tear production nerve which made him unable to produce tear. If that's the case, he might need to be on constant medication for that...or see an opthamologist for furthur testings.

All to say that this little guy is not so lucky...it's one thing after another. First, we thought it was a simple break of the jaw, then report came back saying it was multiple fractures..., then the constipation problem, the walking problem, the cold, and now the eyes...

Thank goodness that there are so many people who cared about him and are praying for him. I'm sure he will fight 'til the end! So, we will not give up on him either.

Update: November 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2009- coming down with a cold

Sorry for the delay of Noah's latest pictures and updates!

November 3rd, 2009:

Noah is doing well, but still hasn't pooped yet. It would be almost a week since he came to us that he hasn't pass a stool...and my vet palpated his tummy, she could feel a lot of poop in there! So, he's on lactulose to help soften the stools and hopefully it'll make it easier for him to go to the bathroom!

We also changed his bandage for the feeding tube incisions, and it was a bit infected with puss. We cleaned it up and applied some antibacterial ointments on the incisions. We will need to check it probably every couple of days just to make sure to keep the incisions clean~

Other than that, he's still walking kind of "drunk" and "shaky" on his hind legs, but he could walk...

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November 4th, 2009:

Hurray~~~Noah made his first big poop this evening!!! My best gift of the day! We took an x-ray this afternoon to make sure that he didn't have a broken pelvis (which we suspected could have caused the delay in passing stool because if there were something broken, it might be due to the pain that he wasn't able to go). However, upon examining the x-rays, everything seems alright. Just full of "shit" in his belly~~~

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November 5th, 2009:

We took Noah off of his pain control medication, Tramadol 10mg, because our doctor said that it might because of that med, that Noah wasn't pooping and walked funny. It's been a day that he's off of that medication and today he's walking much better!

However, Noah isn't feeling very good since this morning. He's coming down with a cold, rhino, that he's been having crusty eyes and greenish nasal discharge and has been sneezing quite a few times today. He's acting a bit more lethargic, not greeting me as happy as he used to...

My vet had recommended to add some supplements in his food to boost his immune system. Considering what he's been throgh, his immune system was for sure comprimised to a certain point especially on a small kitten like him is more likely to catch anything easily than adult cats.

His jaw incisions and feeding tube incisions are also both a little infected. So, now I have to increase the frequency of cleaning the incisions.

Update: November 2nd, 2009- Noah is recovering well

Just a quick note to those who are worried about Noah's recovery.
He is doing great! He's been checked by our vet today, incisions looked good, he's been purring all day long, looking for belly rubs, good appetite, and a blood test results showed nothing significant with his organs to be worried.
He's full of beans~I have let him roam a little in a room at the clinic today, he was walking (although still not 100% normal, but at least he could hold himself up!). Really playful, but I can't really give him any toys because we were afraid that he might want to chew on it~
I haven't got a chance to take his pictures yet, but will do so as soon as I'm free!
Thank you all for your support!!!

Annly

A short amateur video that I've made for Noah~

Update: October 31st, 2009- Double checking incisions

I got a bit paranoid over Noah's incision sites and was constantly checking on them and Noah last night. I didn't get to bed unti l 4am...therefore, sorry if I'm late for replying to people's e-mails, and updating the blog.

I brought Noah to our clinic this morning just to double check the incisions and my vet, Dr. Seto said that it looked fine and the incision sites seemed pretty clean~The swelling has gone down significantly by this evening, and Noah seems to be able to walk a little more sturdier.

A big thank you for Dr. Seto (who did the feeding tube surgery), Dre. Mackay (the initial vet examining Noah when he first came in), Dr. Fraser for helping out during the surgery, and my co-workers for keeping up with me.

I've also created a short video for Noah, it's very novice as I have no clue how to do this quick and fancy, so I went with the traditional way...Any comments are welcome!

Cheque donations can now receive Tax-reduction receipts thanks to Teja's Animal Refuge's generosity

Thanks to Teja's Animal Refuge's generosity, they offered help for people who wish to donate towards Noah's cause and at the same time receive tax receipts, can now make their cheques to Teja's Animal Refuge and specify (very important!) in the memo section that it is "For Noah". So it will go exclusively for Noah's surgery costs.

I know many rescues and organizations are thriving to function with the little donations they receive and I feel guilty in taking some part of it away from them by asking for their help. Therefore I was going to do this on my own and try to raise fund by myself. However, with the help that Eleven Eleven animal rescue and Teja's Animal Refuge offered, it doesn't interfere with their own fundraising so I truly appreciate their support for Noah!

Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue is a brand new rescue group that just started a couple of months ago, it is still applying for the charitable organization status therefore, will not be able to issue tax receipts at this point yet. But, if you would like to donate by credit cards, Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue's website is the best way to go: www.elevenelevenanimalrescue.org/Sponsor_an_Animal.html
Or if you prefer to donate by cheque, please mail it to:
Teja's Animal Refuge
21511 McCormick Rd.
Glen Roberston, ON
K0B 1H0
613-874-1291
(and again, please specify that it is "for Noah"!!!)

Cash donations that you would prefer to give it to me personally are welcome as well, but I won't be able to make a tax-receipt for that~
Thank you for your understanding!

Update: October 30th, 2009 part II- Not pretty looking but he's still adorable

A huge thank you to the doctors and the staff at St-Hyacinthe for performing this complicated surgery and taking good care of Noah:

Dr. Warrak (surgeon)

Dr. Grenier (intern)

Dre. Bond (intern) and their team of technicians.

Also, greatly appreciate the kindness of giving a big reduction of

$576 CAD on Noah's bill! It makes a big difference~it was totally unexpected!

The total cost of this surgery (including the CT Scan, and hospitalization)at St-Hyacinthe came up to $1563.66 CAD with the discount.

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So, a little summary of the CT Scan from doctor's report:

• Oblique mid-mandibular fracture to the right, with a fracture at inter-mandibular symphysis.
• Polytrauma to the head, with multiple fractures at the temporo-mandibular articulation, skull, zygomatic arch, frontal sinus, ethmoid, and nasal septum.
• There was presence of blood in the left frontal sinus and in the right nasal cavity.

All these lesions can only be caused by a severe trauma to the head. The official radiologic report will be sent to you as soon as obtained.

Surgical Treatment report:

A cerclage was put to immobilize the fracture at the intermandibular symphysis. An external fixator was put to reduce the mid-mandibular fracture. It was impossible to put a cerclage because there were some mandibular fragments, and all the plates were too big for the mandible. There was a lot of fibrous tissues, indicating that the fracture was old, at least two weeks.

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So, Noah has to wear an elizabethan collar for at least a month, and be fed through the gastric tube several times a day until his external fixator is removed (in a month).

Update: October 30th, 2009

Today I picked up Noah from the St-Hyacinthe hospital around 4pm. He is now resting and recovering at my place for the weekend...or perhaps longer, we'll play it by ear. Because he
needs constant feeding through the tube and monitoring of his incisions, and that my clinic
is only open half day tomorrow so no one can supervise him overnight so I decided to take him home.
He is acting a little stoned. Can't really stand up and walk properly yet. The doctor said it may be due to the Fentinyl patch (a pain killer patch that was removed before I picked him up) or the head trauma...Let's keep our fingers cross that this is just temporary!
I'm heading out now to run some errands, and will post more pictures and stories shortly.

Help save Noah~a rescued kitten in need of surgery, Montreal QC, Canada

October 26th, 2009, Montreal, QC, Canada:

"Noah", a young, healthy and affectionate 5-month-old kitten was brought in to my work, a vet clinic in NDG, because he wasn't eating since last Thursday (Oct. 22nd). Upon initial examination, it became apparent that there was a good reason for his lack of appetite; his lower jaw had been broken. The owners claimed that they thought it was an abcess in the mouth and had no idea as to why he would have a broken jaw. Unable to afford the $3000 + reparative surgery, the owner declined furthur treatment which leaving only one option (and a much cheaper one), euthanasia.

I was working that day and what caught my attention was how much he resembled one of my cats, Chloe. So, I heard the story, and can not help myself but to jump in to take over the case (eventhough I'm only making a little more than minimum wage and know that this would put me in debt)...I know many people think I'm a crazy cat lady but I cannot see a young kitten like Noah who is not terminally ill with incurable disease like FIV or leukemia be put down just because of financial reasons....Had I not been working that day, I may turn a blind eye on this. But, I was there...I heard the story and met the cat, I can not not help him!

I know many people will think and try to give me the whole lecture of "well, it's just a cat, and you can't save them all~" Let me tell you, I may not be able to save them all, but once they are right in front of me, and for no good reasons, I can not let an animal like Noah suffer and being euthanized because of negligent owners. Not to mention that Noah was brought in to our clinic 2 months ago (at barely 3 months old), for a BROKEN LEG and a BROKEN RIB!!! Now a BROKEN JAW??? Is it because this kitten is just too active that he was prone to accidents (according to his owners)....uh...I don't think so and you be the judge! A fall from somewhere high to cause a broken leg is probably heard of, but when it coincides with a broken rib...no, someone must have give him a good kick~

If you feel as strong as I do for Noah and would like to contribute to his surgery, please feel free to contact me at pet_adoptions@hotmail.com to donate by cash or cheque, or to donate by credit card, please go to: www.elevenelevenanimalrescue.org/Sponsor_an_Animal.html and click on Noah's case.

**A special thank you to Eleven Eleven animal rescue for offering their website to set up aspecial account exclusively for Noah's donations.** And, thank you to other rescues who have provided ideas and suggestions for fundraising! I know many rescues are also desperately in need of funds, so I'm doing this all by myself~

Thank you all who supports this cause!

Puuuurrrrs from Noah! (the meowing is from another cat boarded at the clinic, not from Noah~)