Camellia12

Wow - AUNTY MARGARET!!!!!!!!! just look at little Miss Candy go!!! What a happy looking girl. She is having a great time and looks very much at home with the other furbabies. I so hope she's a foster failure!!!!! thanks for the up-date Lillypilly. Tis a corker!

Awwww, look at Candy's gorgeous little face :). Thank you for the latest pics Tdierikx and also for the more detailed update on Candy's bionic leg!!!! So glad she is doing so well. I love your hilarious desciption of Ozzie the fuzzy mobile dust buster!!! Thank you so much you awesome threesome (Lillypilly, Tdierlikx and Aunty Margaret). Candy looks so at home at Aunty Margaret's. You can see how happy she is. She certainly didn't have a look like that when she was stuck in the pound. A complet transformation. So happy to see her like this! Thank you.

Thanks so much Tdierlikx for the wonderful update on Candy. That has made my day :). You and Lillypilly and Aunty Margaret do such a wonderful job and the world wouldn't be the same without you all. What you've done foe Candy is just amazing. She's a beautiful girl and am so glad to hear she's doing so well and is so happy. Great story. Thank you!

I met Sweetie earlier this year. She was a gorgeous white fluffy who had some attitude! It was clear she was loved and doted on by all at NSWAR. She got to go on her little walks and was often carried like royalty all around the grassed area and enjoyed the sunshine and all the sights and smells of the great outdoors. The sign on her door said it all. "Sweetie gets what Sweetie wants." She was totally adored by all her carers. My heart goes out to the many who loved and devoted themselves to Sweetie. She knew she was special and that she was loved. Vale Sweetie. Run free restored to your former youth in the sunshine, Miss Sweetie. Deepest sympathy to Lynn and Tracey and all at NSWAR. Until we meet again Sweetie xox.

I met Sweetie earlier this year. She was a gorgeous white fluffy who had some attitude! It was clear she was loved and doted on by all at NSWAR. She got to go on her little walks and was often carried like royalty all around the grassed area and enjoyed the sunshine and all the sights and smells of the great outdoors. The sign on her door said it all. "Sweetie gets what Sweetie wants." She was totally adored by all her carers. My heart goes out to the many who loved and devoted themselves to Sweetie. She knew she was special and that she was loved. Vale Sweetie. Run free restored to your former youth in the sunshine, Miss Sweetie. Deepest sympathy to Lynn and Tracey and all at NSWAR. Until we meet again Sweetie xox.

There is a livestock impounding facility in the Hawkesbury. Sadly, I don’t like their chances, poor little souls The sale yards at Mulgrave are very distressing for those who love and care for animals. I have only been there once, came home with a two day old calf who I hand raised. I refused to leave without her. She was so distressed, sick and weak, my husband had to carry her to the car as she was too weak to walk, I nursed her on my lap on the way home. Olive is now an enormous Friesian who thinks she is a dog I am sure. Good Luck. Thanks for saving Olive. The plight of poddy calves is so sad. I wouldn't have been able to leave her there either & she sounds wonderful. It must have been so rewarding to rescue her. Olive is a doll I agree the plight of poddy calves is distressing. I rescued Patrick from the knackery (he was born in the paddock and I spotted him) Mum was taken there as she had black mastitis I did everything possible to save Mum as well) spoke to numerous vets, the university etc though nothing could be done for her. So I made her a promise. Poor little tyke was only a day old. I hand raised Patrick and when old enough had him castrated and him dehorned. I was hoping to integrate him with the horses, though they fobbed him off. I went to the sales to get Patrick a companion and Miss Olive came home with us. Patrick and Olive are inseparable. I was 8 months pregnant with my third bub and sat with Olive all night long, she wore a large dog coat and began to feed early hours of the morning thank god. My Husband who is experienced with stock didn’t think she would make the night. The doggers were bidding on Olive. I had $100 to buy her, my Husband did the bidding, it reached $100, he looked at me and I stood up on the metal railing and yelled at the top of my lungs "Honey, I don’t care how high you have to go but I am NOT leaving without this calf"! ETA I hope there is some good news for the lambs and sheep, any updates? What a lovely story (except for poor Mum). Thanks for sharing. That's a great story!!!! You just didn't give up!

There is a livestock impounding facility in the Hawkesbury. Sadly, I don’t like their chances, poor little souls The sale yards at Mulgrave are very distressing for those who love and care for animals. I have only been there once, came home with a two day old calf who I hand raised. I refused to leave without her. She was so distressed, sick and weak, my husband had to carry her to the car as she was too weak to walk, I nursed her on my lap on the way home. Olive is now an enormous Friesian who thinks she is a dog I am sure. Good Luck. Go Olive, yay!

K9Angel that is one of the most beautifully poignant, sad posts I have ever read. It reduced me to tears. Your lovely son Jack sounds like such a compassionate, kindred soul who was clearly besotted with little Miss Cookie and both his and your love and devotion for her is what life is all about-pursing kindness and goodness and decency. If it weren't for people like you I would lose all hope for the human race. That story for the paper should include you last post. It's one of the most moving pieces I have ever read. It was truth from the heart. Well done for honouring Cookie's memory by going to the police, the RSPCA and the media and trying to ensure it never happens again.

K9Angel I was so sad and upset to hear about what happened to Little Miss Cookie. I cannot believe that anybody could be so evil and pathetic to do such a thing to a poor, defenceless little kitten. I could not stop crying when I read your post. Cookie has touched so many hearts over the last week and I guess because everyone was just willing her to live is part of the reason that it now seems so very unbelievable that she has gone. The way in which you have loved and cared for Cookie over the last week is testament to the beautiful, loving person you must be and that little kitten just lapped up your unconditional love over the last few days, like mother's milk. It's no surprise Cookie was so glad to see you when you came in to see her at the vets this afternoon. She loved you unconditionally, as you loved her, and I am so relieved and comforted by the fact her last moments were with you, warm and loved and safe in your arms where she wanted to be. What you gave to Cookie transcends words or reason and was simply pure, selfless love. Cookie will love you forever for it and would be thanking you for all you did to save her and that you showed her what real love is. I hope you can take some comfort in knowing you gave her something very special. An amazing effort K9Angel. You are a truly beautiful person. I know because Cookie told us all every day over the last week in her videos where she did everything she could to get her legs working for you. She is a brave and beautiful girl who we will never forget. On another note, I think it would be good if the police knew what had happened because my understanding is that air-rifles are illegal and certainly shooting animals is outlawed and a criminal offence, not to mention horrendously, unacceptably cruel. If nothing else, it might prevent another animal from having to suffer being shot by some horrible, unfeeling person with severe behavioural problems. Thank you so much for what you tried to do for Cookie over the last week. It gives me some hope that there is still some goodness and love in such a mean world. You get my vote for Australian of the year xox

Firstly, good on you for taking on this poor kitten and at least giving her a chance. You are obviously an amazing person. By the sounds of things, Cookie retains both superficial pain response and voluntary limb movement in her hindlimbs. These signs are GOOD prognostic indicators. Recovery of neurological function can take months. Obviously, during this time, the animals require intensive care with regard to nursing (toileting, physio, feeding etc). Even for animals that are completely paralyzed with no deep pain, it is recommended (if the owner wishes) to give them at least 2 months to recover some neurological function- if the cause for spinal cord damage has been removed (if it hasn't been removed than there will be no improvement). I think it is pretty poor form to only be *partially* sure that the animal has a fractured vetebral column and hence recommend euthanasia. As a minimum, radiographs should be performed. Even then unless there is severe luxaion of the vertebrae, they will not tell us about the extent of spinal cord damage and whether it is likely to resolve, or if there are surgical options for correction. A myelogram or MRI would be needed to determine this. Obviously all this requires time and money, but the vet should at least offer the "gold standard" approach and then let the owner decide how far they want to go. Personally, I would be inclined to continue giving the nursing care you are providing, and at least give the kitten a few more weeks, as it seems she does make improvements over time. It seems she is not suffering or in any pain at present. My main concern would be the issue of incontinence as it seems Cookie doesn't have 100% control, going after feeding or stimulating her perineum may be considered a reflex action rather than concious control. But the fact that she does go by herself (even if stimulated in some way) is a good sign again. The main risk for incontinent animals is UTI and bladder atony (where the bladder becomes very large and flaccid and can't contract properly). If she is urinating regularly, her chances of complications are less likely. Only time will tell whether she will regain full function unfortunately. ETA: You can request that the radiographs are read by a specialist if there is any doubt over such a potentially serious diagnosis. Going off her clinical signs and possible contience issues, I'd say her problem probably is lumbosacral. A "fractured" spine is not always very obvious as there may not be a crack through bone, but instead there may be a luxation between 2 vertebrae (eg. instead of being in a line, one of the vertebrae will be displaced usually up or down). This can be quite subtle. But as I said before if it is subtle, its really hard to tell what the actual damage to the spinal cord itself is. Thankyou so much for your post Aussielover. I have thought it over carefully and watched and re-watched the video's I made of her. She is making progress, there is no denying that. The video's prove it. Thank God I made them otherwise I would of questioned whether it was my imagination or whether she really was improving. I have decided I will continue working with her for a little while longer. I am picking her up shortly. If we don't see any further improvement in the next week or two, I will set her free but because I have seen remarkable improvement in just the past week alone, I am going to hang in there just a little while more. I will also be asking the regular vet to go over the x-ray for a 2nd opinion. And when I pick her up I will ask if they have any ointment for her urine scald as that's the only thing causing her any discomfort at the moment. (from my observations and the vets). If anyone else has any suggestions re; remedy for the urine scald, please let me know. Thanks and thanks again for all your support. Hello K9Angel. I think Aussielover's post was great too. Now that I know what transpired at your vets today, I am going to go and see my vet here in Canberra and get her to speak with their super brilliant orthopaedic surgeon on staff to at least get her view of what the outlook might be for Cookie. I know she did some of her training in Sydney so she may also be able to recommend a good orthopaedic surgeon in Sydney too (not that I'm advocating surgery necessarily) but just to get a view on Cookie's potential prognosis and a highly regarded specialist's opinion on the possible outlook for Cookie. Clearly that is hard without examining x-rays herself or doing further investigation but she may be able to tell me what might be best to pursue. She also has dealings I think with the top feline specialist in Australia who works out of Sydney university (or at least used to). Depending on what might be suggested for further investigation (and clearly any decision about further investigation and tests would have to be made by you, Cookie's loving carer) I would be happy to contribute money if Cookie had some hope (Aussielover's comment about what might be required for a more definitive diagnosis is right) and I suspect it will be expensive. Having said that, it appears you have support from many people who are willing to contribute to save Cookie. I'll get back to you about the above once I have spoken to my vet here in Canberra in case that is of any help to you. Cookie has agreat carer in you :)

Hello K9angel. I started reading your post for the first time last night and found the story about Cookie very moving. My local vet in Canberra has a great orthopaedic surgeon on staff. I hope things go really well with Cookie seeing your vet today and that Cookie can be saved... but in the event thingsdon't go well, please don't get Cookie euthanased until I have a chance to talk to my vet here and get her opinion. I can show my vet your video of Cookie and descriptions of how she has improved over the last week. Obviously the vet here would want to see Cookie but it might be worth me getting a consultation on the information I have now and see what she says and if she thinks there is any hope. I'm not sure when I can get an appointment but I will try for tomorrow. I hope it's not necessary and your vet can help. Please let me know on this forum how Cookie goes with the vet today and then I will know whether I should make an appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon for cats here. I would be happy to pay for the consultation here in Canberra. I am at work but will try to have a look this afternoon at how Cookie fared at your vet today. Best wishes for a good outcome xox.