Hope for Holly

On Christmas Eve 2011 a 3-month old kitten was injured by a large dog which rendered her back legs useless. After three days of dragging herself around, her owners surrendered her to a local pet rescue where I volunteered. Outside of not being able to use her back legs, the vet determined Holly was a happy and healthy kitten. Since there was no damage to her spine or spinal cord, everyone believed she would walk again. I brought her home as a foster kitten believing things would get better with patience, love, and special care. I established a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Hope4Holly) to help with moral support. Holly had at-home physical therapy and multiple alternative treatments with a neurologist.

A year passed and although Holly occasionally got up and balanced on her back legs and tried very hard to walk, she could not. Another year passed, and when faced with relocation I formally adopted her in November 2013. Holly will turn 4 years old in September 2015 and she never regained the use of her back legs, tail or control of her bowels or bladder.

Holly has become an integral part of our family. Holly’s daily care ranges from expressing her bladder multiple times a day, baths, swapping out and washing her bedding, cleaning up after her ‘accidents’, and keeping her out of harm’s way! Beyond the hands-on care, Holly's condition makes her prone to infections that require expensive trips to the vet seemingly every couple of months and she's always on a special diet.

In total, we have 8 rescued cats – 6 of which are special needs. Because of the expenses we already incur with the others, your participation in this T-shirt fundraiser (and any additional donation) will ONLY be used toward Holly’s health and wellness. Holly has a Paypal account with a debit card and her funds are kept separately.

You can follow her daily antics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Hope4Holly and sign up for her mailing list at http://eepurl.com/3V92L.

Thank you! (and Headbutts from Holly)