That’s how Hiccup, an adorable 10-month-old kitten, came to Ruff Start earlier this month. It was clear that he had gone through some kind of physical trauma (our best guess is that he was hit by a car) and was sadly dumped at the RSR office. One of our vet techs discovered him wandering around our surgery recovery room, limping, despite the fact that the room had been vacant earlier that day. He was energetic and spritely but had a large wound on his back right leg, which was swollen all the way down to his toes.
Luckily for Hiccup, our entire vetting team was at the office that day and was able to assess his situation quickly. After a thorough examination, they determined that kennel rest alone would not resolve the issue, and amputation of his leg was inevitable.
After his surgery, Hiccup was monitored by Ruff Start’s vetting staff for several days before going to his foster’s home. His foster, who has a resident ‘ tripawd’ dog (animals that have a limb removed are lovingly referred to as ‘tripawds’), learned how to keep Hiccup’s incision clean and gave him tons of love while he was on kennel rest during recovery.
Unfortunately, while his incision is healing well, we’ve discovered some other potential health issues that will need to be addressed before Hiccup leaves Ruff Start’s care. We will keep you updated on Hiccup’s recovery. For now, he is resting and preparing for a life with his new family.
While we are glad to have had a hand in helping a strapping young lad like Hiccup, this was obviously not a situation that we planned for, and we could use your help. If it’s within your means, please donate to our Animal Care Fund today to help animals just like Hiccup get the care they need. This has been a ‘ruff’ year for animal rescues and shelters, and we sincerely appreciate our community of supporters. We couldn’t do what we do and save 3,300+ animals without your help.
While we understand that some folks just don’t have the resources to care for an animal for a myriad of reasons, dumping an animal is not in the best interest of anyone involved – people or pet. If we knew what happened to Hiccup, we wouldn’t have to speculate what he went through and may have been able to provide support to whoever his person was if they’d wanted to keep such a sweet, loving cat.
To help families keep pets in times of crisis or offer support to good samaritans who want to reunite found animals with their owners, we are proud to have resources on our website for public reference:
https://ruffstartrescue.org/community-resources/Ruff Start is a foster-based rescue and we can only help as many animals as we have available foster homes.
The Story of Hiccup
Posted: April 28, 2022 by Kelli Hanson
meet hiccup.
That’s how Hiccup, an adorable 10-month-old kitten, came to Ruff Start earlier this month. It was clear that he had gone through some kind of physical trauma (our best guess is that he was hit by a car) and was sadly dumped at the RSR office. One of our vet techs discovered him wandering around our surgery recovery room, limping, despite the fact that the room had been vacant earlier that day. He was energetic and spritely but had a large wound on his back right leg, which was swollen all the way down to his toes.
Luckily for Hiccup, our entire vetting team was at the office that day and was able to assess his situation quickly. After a thorough examination, they determined that kennel rest alone would not resolve the issue, and amputation of his leg was inevitable.
After his surgery, Hiccup was monitored by Ruff Start’s vetting staff for several days before going to his foster’s home. His foster, who has a resident ‘ tripawd’ dog (animals that have a limb removed are lovingly referred to as ‘tripawds’), learned how to keep Hiccup’s incision clean and gave him tons of love while he was on kennel rest during recovery.
Unfortunately, while his incision is healing well, we’ve discovered some other potential health issues that will need to be addressed before Hiccup leaves Ruff Start’s care. We will keep you updated on Hiccup’s recovery. For now, he is resting and preparing for a life with his new family.
While we are glad to have had a hand in helping a strapping young lad like Hiccup, this was obviously not a situation that we planned for, and we could use your help. If it’s within your means, please donate to our Animal Care Fund today to help animals just like Hiccup get the care they need. This has been a ‘ruff’ year for animal rescues and shelters, and we sincerely appreciate our community of supporters. We couldn’t do what we do and save 3,300+ animals without your help.
While we understand that some folks just don’t have the resources to care for an animal for a myriad of reasons, dumping an animal is not in the best interest of anyone involved – people or pet. If we knew what happened to Hiccup, we wouldn’t have to speculate what he went through and may have been able to provide support to whoever his person was if they’d wanted to keep such a sweet, loving cat.
Category: Cats, Rescue Tails, Resources Tags: animal, dog, education, ruff start rescue