BENNY

Benny was CRUSHED – PLEASE HELP!

Benjamin “Benny” was severely crushed in a terrible accident with a power recliner. A family member suddenly heard him screaming and immediately pulled him out, but it was clear right away that something was very wrong. He couldn’t catch his breath; he could hardly move and had urinated himself. We rushed him straight to the emergency vet.

X-rays showed a pulmonary contusion — bruising to his lungs. He was struggling to breathe and had to be kept on oxygen overnight. With a pulmonary contusion, the lungs are essentially bruised. When that happens, blood and inflammatory fluid leak from damaged blood vessels and collect inside the lung tissue and air spaces. This makes it much harder for oxygen to move in and out of the lungs, which is why breathing becomes painful and labored.  It was heart wrenching to see such our sweet boy fighting so hard just to get air.

Ideally, Benjamin should have stayed another night in the hospital. Making the decision to bring him home instead was heartbreaking and not taken lightly. We simply couldn’t afford another night of ICU care. He’s now being watched closely at home, and thankfully he is improving — his breathing is slowly getting easier, and he’s starting to move more normally again.

This was no one’s fault. It was a tragic accident. But it turned into a very serious and very expensive emergency for us.

If you’re able to help with Benjamin’s emergency care, it would mean so much to us. We literally just bought a bunch of equipment for our TNR volunteers for this year, so the timing of this emergency is especially difficult. Every donation helps us cover what’s already been spent and makes it possible for us to keep helping the next kitten when something unexpected happens.

Most of all, please keep Benjamin in your thoughts as he continues to heal. He’s a little fighter and we’re hopeful he’ll recover 100%.

Thank you for being here with us when things go wrong, not just when we have cute kittens to show off! We are also grateful to our emergency veterinary professionals who do the best they can with what they’ve got to work with.