Clementines Recovery Fund
$1,500 of $4,000 raised
Once upon a time a girl who “didn’t like” cats fell in love with a kitten from across the country on her best friends instagram. Roughly 6 weeks later she and her partner were driving that kitty from Georgia back to California, naming her Clementine along the way. (shoutout to musician Sarah Jaffe) It was the beginning of the Covid pandemic and through that and other personal hardships the girl and the boy and the kitten helped each other through.
Cut to 3 years and another cross country trip for Clementine later, the little troop is living in Georgia and the kitty is happy as can be with many human friends in her neighborhood who she loves chasing down for pets.
On one of these chilly fall mornings, no doubt she was looking for someone to visit on their walk when an escaped, aggressive dog attacked her. Clementine grew up around dogs, and always wanted to meet the calm ones that would walk by. She probably thought it was another friend.
The dog wasn’t a friend, but luckily, one of her human neighbor friends witnessed the attack and brought her home to us. We rushed her to the incredible UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital and over the next week they managed to save her life, a life that is very special to me and her other person, Nate. The only caveat- a leg that was barely salvageable, but fixed through surgery and put in an adorable cast decorated by her new friends at the hospital.
The next week she went in for a routine bandage change. Easy! She’s out of the woods! Except she wasn’t and the leg was majorly infected. Apparently dog mouths are not very clean at all and not every bacteria is combatible.
Tomorrow, on Friday the 13th (yup), she will have that leg amputated. She has always had her grumpy moments and sometimes slaps us, though oddly gently. She’ll have one less paw to slap with now, but the slap that could have been hurts so much more.
I know some people may think a cats life may not be worth what we’ve been through, emotionally and financially, but this particular cat has helped me heal from some pretty tough stuff. Her head boops and sweet morning cuddles are not something I could say goodbye to just yet.
This is not a plea to save her life, we already made sure of that. But the financial burden is heavy, so if you feel like helping out it would mean the world, no matter what you’re able to give.