Rogér "Le Chat Noir" Black Cat Needs Your Help!

Dear Cat Fans and Black Cat Loyalists,

As you know today is Halloween and we have a sick black cat that needs your help. AND he looks exactly like the famous "Le Chat Noir" poster cat!!

Rogér was on the brink of death and was ultimately saved. To date his vet bill is close to $3000 (copies of vet bills will be posted soon!)  You see his throat was slashed. How?? Whether by cruel evil person or by accident, we do not know. After this horrific injury began to heal other complications arose.

Rogér was rescued around April 1. He’s a very sweet cat, about 7 years old, who has suffered a lot. He was abused and also possibly hit by a car earlier in life. It appears that someone tried to slash his throat, and his jaw was dislocated (though he looks normal and drinks and eats normally).

He is the living image of the famous French poster “Tournée du Chat Noir”; the resemblance is remarkable.

At the time of rescue, Rogér had extreme diarrhea and was pitifully thin. He has presumptive IBD, did have pancreatitis (now testing normal), and after accidental exposure to a cat with upper respiratory symptoms he fell ill and was assist-fed for 12 days and had sub-Q fluids for 30 days. During that time he turned diabetic. He’s now on insulin. He also eats a special food (hydrolyzed protein) and takes Pepcid and Zofran pills. He’s very easy to medicate.

Rogér is now thriving. He has gone from 7 to 10-1/2 pounds.


FOSTER CARE NEEDED FOR 2 WEEKS

Naturally we need funding to pay the bill so we can help more cats. Also Rogér is diabetic. His foster mother must go out of town to take care of her sick 93 year old mother! We urgently need foster person for 2 weeks. However, he needs to be isolated from other cats as he is not vaccinated (he cannot receive vaccinations until he is in the clear).

Karen will show you how to give insulin shots twice a day. It's not difficult and Rogér is used to it.

To make a donation just click on our donate button on the right column or to volunteer to foster Roger please send us an email to riverfrontcats@yahoo.com.

Isn't the resemblance uncanny?!

Let's help Rogér. Let's help black cats this Halloween!
Be safe everyone.

Update on Our Very Ill Queenie

Our sweet but very ill Queenie is still on multiple medications and Hills Prescription G/I canned food to help her get well. The good news is she is eating and she is able to hold down her food. However, the vet is recommending an Ultrasound ($390) to help diagnose the issue. It might be a partial obstruction or another cause. Until the ultrasound is not done there is no way to know what is causing her illness.

Queenie is hanging in there, being the fighter she is. Check her new pictures below

"Will I get better soon?"

"I know I look a mess;  I want to live. Will you help me get better? "

"I just want to go back being the healthy Kittie I was"

Here is a short video of Queenie:

 

She still has life ahead of her to enjoy the new comforts that her foster home brings - a warm soft bed, fresh, clean water and nutritious food every day. For this reason, we are asking our animal-loving friends to donate ANY amount - large or small, everything helps - so we can give Queenie an Ultrasound as quickly as possible and post updates on her progress.

WAYS TO DONATE:
1. Donate online with major credit card or PayPal using the Paypal DONATE button to the right.
2. Mail a check to Pawsitively Humane or Riverfront Cats (contact us for address riverfrontcats@yahoo.com.

Queenie Needs You, Not a Palace

Queenie is wondering what's next for her

This black beauty is Queenie, with a name like this you must think she was living in a palace. Well, this was sort of her case. This lady in distress was abandoned at The Palace senior living facility in Kendall.She was rescued by our volunteer Christina who immediately took her to the vet.

Our sweet Queenie at the vet

 According to the vet she is around nine years old or more.  She is very friendly, gentle and is always looking for attention and food which clearly indicates she may have been someone's kitty. However, our friend noticed she was growing weaker and weaker, having to compete with other strays for food, not having access to clean water, and no visible shelter which made her so frail and thin that those who know her started to worry how she would manage in extreme weather.

Christina started bringing her food and then finally brought her inside in March in hopes to nurse her back to health. For a over a month, she was doing well. But her tummy is swollen and harder than normal, and then she shows signs of not holding her food down, then stopped eating altogether about a week ago. The vet is diagnosing possible Irritable Bowel Disorder, or intestinal lymphoma, which only an ultrasound and surgery could confirm.

Dr. Donocoff currently has Queenie on Prednisone, Flagyl, and Pepsid. They will hold off on doing the Ultrasound ($390) and exploratory surgery ($638) if she does well on the medication. But a second vet did review her x-ray and fears there may be an obstruction. Her current vet bill is $200+. See below for a copy.

Queenie's xray 

Queenie's vet bill

We are asking our dear readers for donations to help us with Queenie's vet bill. Any donation is highly appreciated. $5, $10, $15, $50.

WAYS TO DONATE:

1. Donate online with major credit card or PayPal using the Paypal DONATE button to the right.

2. Mail a check to Pawsitively Humane or Riverfront Cats (contact us for address riverfrontcats@yahoo.com

We have a situation...

Dear Riverfront Neighbors, Friends, Followers

I started an update on the Riverfront cats but there is more.

(Update August 28, 2012: for the impact of Tropical Storm Isaac that just passed through Miami, please read toward the bottom of this posting).

This story originates this past bitter, cold winter when one night it was raining nonstop, a very rare occurence for the season. Normally we see these rains during a tropical storm in the summertime.

Typically we feed the Riverfront cats around 7-8pm. But that night, I waited for the rains to stop. It didn't. Consulting with every weather news channel there was no sign of rains ceasing. So I headed out about 9pm in rain boots, raincoat and oversized umbrella and at station 3, my heart dropped. There they were-- the five cats at Station 3 standing frozen, soaking wet, and shivering. They looked up at me with relief! Oh my gosh I started to cry!

The condo cut down all the trees and bushes, the only semi- protection to shield them. The rain continued pelting them and these cats were starving. I was so overwhelmed in their trust in me. They knew I would appear to feed them no matter what. But the problem now was where to feed them. The rain would dissolve their food.  I knew cat houses were needed for rainy season and it's here!

Also, we're down to two volunteers and one just lost her job! The other volunteers (even dog owners who never had cats) have moved out.

We urgently need donations to buy cat food & build cat houses. 

To help, just click on the DONATION button on upper right side. You can easily donate with credit card or PayPal. Any amount will help. Or feel free to donate monthly. Or just from making online purchases at Amazon, Mr. Chewy and PetApprovedRx, these vendors will donate a small percentage to Riverfront Cats!

Due to our successful system (TNRM), these cats are not starving and are healthy and happy in general. We religiously feed them every night and the cats appear at feeding time so they are not crossing the major roads, looking for food and getting killed as what happened in 2008. We also apply flea topical solution.

We saved them from being inhumanely dumped at a park, we saved them from the kill-shelter, we saved them from being road kill. They are the Riverfront Pets! We have people with some time, but limited money, and people willing to donate money but have no spare time to volunteer. So with a little coordinating and teamwork we can help our Riverfront pets.

If you prefer to drop off the food or build the houses--even better! The cat houses are nothing fancy. I can explain in more detail. Just email me at riverfrontcats@yahoo.com

Thank you for taking a moment to help your community. As always, you're welcome to join the volunteers in the daily feedings--weekday, weekend, workday, holiday to observe first hand what we do and meet these amazing pets.

UPDATE August 28: It was very painful not to be able to feed the cats during Tropical Storm Isaac. Two cats have not appeared and we hope they did not go too far in search of food. We really need more donations to build those cat houses. We have a place to secure the houses in the event of storms.  You can make a donation or  help by purchasing cat food or vitamins and medications on the banner ads to the right (Mr. Chewy, Amazon, VetApprovedRx), we receive a small donation from the vendor. THANK YOU!

Many blessings for your help,
Christine Michaels