My Forever Kitty

maddies mom

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Bella was our daughters cat, Simon was my husbands cat, and I wanted what I called my forever kitty. You know, the cat you will allways love the most, remember the fondest, fits you the best, make you smile whenever you see her picture....., my forever kitty. My last cat was named Baby Lynn, and died at 12 years of age. She was very close to me, and was my cat in no uncertain terms. It had been 6 years since she passed away, and I was ready to fall in love again. I kept intending to go to the humane society, but felt the timing was wrong, and waited. My kitty was out there.


She found me days later while I was building a deck with my father in law at a grange hall. She introduced herself to me by climbing up the 4x4 frame and than later sharing my lunch. She was so playful and not at all afraid of the power tools, noise or the large lumber pieces being swung around. She climbed one side of the deck while we worked on the other side. My father in law had seen her across the highway the other day, and so later on, I sadly walked her back to her house to the children playing outside. After giving her back, I told them if they ever decided they didn't want her, I would take her in a second. Turns out they had two other siblings to my Madison, and their mother had a batch of 7 newborn kittens inside. She was mine! I couldn't do anything for the rest of the cats, but I would love and care for Maddie for the rest of her life! I am so in love with this cat. She was about 3 or 4 months when I took her home, and she is now a year and 3 months. I could go on and on about how well she fits our family, and how well she fits me in particular, but this is going to be long enough.

I don't go anywhere overnight without Maddie. She travels great, and gets along with other cats famously. We had come home from our in'laws in Portland, June 16th, and she had gone outside to play. We got started watching a movie and forgot to call her in that night (Sorry baby
) She loves to hunt and night hunting is fun in her opinion, so she ignored my calls for 2 hours and I finally went to bed, frustrated and a little worried.
We have coons, skunks, cyotes and all sorts of night preditors that roam at night. That's why we allways bring our cats in before dark. The next morning, no sign. My daughter knows how much Madison means to me and kept watching me for signs of breakdown or crying, so I tried to be strong. I told her to take a break inside, and I wandered the woods sobbing for my kitten to come home. We checked the garage several times, hoping she might be there. I knew something was terribly wrong. All day, I walked our 2.3 achre lot, and the surrounding woods with my daughter, calling, crying, shaking treat cans, cutting through blackberries and praying. God, if she was hurt, please let her come home to me. Just before dark, I went out again, knowing I couldn't sleep with her out there hurt, and noticed our Orange Tabby (now missing a month, (see crossing the bridge) intensly sniffing the air and heading to the garage. I ran in and saw her on top of our storage shed, looking dirty, dull and not moving. I screamed her name and no response, and I panicked. Sobbing now, hysterical I called her again, and she lifted her head and looked at me. I lost it. Her face was mangled, right eye swollen shut, her jaw hanging loose and broken, her tounge black, covered in dirt and moss. Her chest, normally a white blaze of a lions mane, was covered in blood and dirt. I climbed up and took her in the house where my daughter grabbed the phone book to the emergency vet answering service, and we left the house. She held Maddie on a towel on her lap, I called the number and by the time we got to the vet office, the vet on call had been paged.

Madison was hit by a car, and her jaw was severly broken. Her upper pallate was broken in half, down the center, the left side overlapping the right, causing her teeth to slant in. She was missing a piece of the palate, creating a hole that food and water would later go into making her sneeze and gag. Her nose was broken as a result of the palate break. Her lower jaw was also broken down the center, but the right side was broken in three seperate pieces. All four canines and the little front teeth were broken off at the gumline. Her right eye was swollen shut, and we found out later the globe was intact, but the retina, pupil, iris etc. had detatched and been shoved back against the wall of the eye, and she is blind in that eye. Her left ear drum was shattered, and her tail had nerve damage, hanging limp and useless. The remainder of her body seemed intact save some wounds on her sides and back. She could hear us, follow me with her good eye, and was awake the entire ride to the vet, calm. She was given pain meds, antibiotics and sedatives, and my husband, daughter and I all agreed that no matter what it took or cost, we were going to save our baby. She had to wait till Monday for surgery, (We found her Saturday) she was considered a dirty surgery because of her infected wounds and the other spays and neuteres etc needed to be done first. She was heavily medicated and the vet checked on her at least twice a day, calling us so we could meet her there that weekend.

She came home the following Thursday, 5 days in the vets (in which time we visited every morning and night for an hour each) with a feeding tube in her neck, pain meds and antibiotics. We had to feed and water her by tube 3 to 4 times a day for 4 days, and than she started eating around the tube down her throat. The tube was removed the next day. Her lower jaw was wired together, and the swelling was beginning to go down. Our vet wasn't set up for this kind of intensive surgery and it was worse than the initial exray showed, and they couldn't do anything with the upper palate.



The blood drained from her eye and left a darker yellow eye, with a vague dark spot in the corner. We took her to a specialist in Portland (we live on the coast, two hours away) three weeks after the accident, wanting her to be more functional. We found out the specialist could have repaired almost everything if we had taken her in right away. We didn't know, and our vet was more concerned with keeping her alive at the time (I am not complaining, they are wonderful and we are extremely thankful for all their effforts and work) It's just I love her so much, I would have done it instantly. I want the absolute best I can get for her, and I want her functional. We took her to her appointment to have her looked at, and they admitted her that day for her second major surgery. She had her lower jaw rewired so it was healing straighter, a root canal on one of her canines, and the hole in her upper palate resealed. She had all the right upper teeth pulled so the lower side could close a little further instead of clicking, teeth on teeth. She will never be able to close her mouth completely, as one of the fractures in the lower right side healed wrong, jutting the jaw out. Her tounge hangs out, more so when she's tired, because there are no teeth to hold it in place.

She came home for her second recovery. Her tail slowly regained movement, the nerves regenerating and repairing themselves. She has learned to eat hard food, which is her favorite, but still gets her soft food often. She prefers to drink water from the bathroom faucet, easier than trying to contain it in her mouth. Most amazingly, she is the same Maddie as before the accident in manner and personality. She plays the same, gets into the same trouble on table and counters, cuddles and loves the same, remembers all her favorite spots, where the food and litters were, played the same games with us. Everything. God really did a miricale with my forever kitty. He must have known I couldn't be without her. She looks a little funny to outsiders, but she is absolutely beautiful to me.


She has one final surgery coming up August 31st. Her lower jaw wire will be removed, and her remaining canines and broken teeth will need root canals. Both our vet and the specialist are doing payment plans for her bills after large down payments, but it has cost a lot. Below is the breakdown and the names and contact info for our vets. If you feel you would like to help us with some of these bills, please call the vets and varify my story. You can pay them directly on our behalf. I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a cat owner, and all our cats are spayed and are kept up on shots etc. We are a self employed family with my husbands income and it gets tight. Regardless, we will make things happen as needed to ensure my Maddies recovery and health. Thank you all for your time in reading our story and keep Madison in your prayers, as the doctors are worried later down the road her blind eye may have to be removed. We are praying and in belief that will not be necessary.


Pioneer Veterinary Hospital
801 Main Street
Tillamook, OR 97141 503-842-8411 Fax: 503-842-1331
Emergency vet on call: Katheryne Yackley, DVM
Surgeon: Daniel Cameron DVM

Total Bill: 710.40
total payments: 410.30
Remaining Balance: 300.10

Animal Dental Clinic
4905 SW 77th Ave
Portland, OR 97225 503-292-4533 Fax:503-292-8487
Randi Brannan, DVM

Total Bill: 755.00
Total payments: 580.00
Balance Remaining: 175.00

I am checking with the Doctor Brannon to see what the 31st appointment
might total, but it's going to be close with the 3 root canals and anestesia etc. I will update this post when I have the answer.

Some might be thinking that this is a lot of effort and money for a cat, but if you new my forever kitty, you would have done the same.
 

satai

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I am sorry that you and your family, and especially Maddie, are going through this.

You are all in my prayers.
 

thr33 cats

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We will keep Maddie in our prayers. There is not a dollar amount that you can put on your babies, it will all work out.
 

callista

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Don't worry about her looks--I think she's cute.
 

arielrain

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That poor sweet kitty! It is amazing that she is still herself after all that she went through. You have done so much for her and I'm sure she knows how much she is treasured. You have done well in caring for your little darling.
 
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maddies mom

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Thank you, It's been a long road and recovery, and she has slowly come back to where she is now. I love her more than I can express.
 

middletown

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What a heart breaking story. You and Maddie will be in my prayers.
Hopefully Maddies example will be a shining light to others as the reason to keep your cat inside.
 
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