Aurora’s Angels Fund Donations: Elena’s story

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Dr. Dale Rubenstein.

Elena is a beautiful stray who wandered into one of our client’s lives and has become a part of their family, if only on her own terms. Our best guess is that she’s about 8 years old, but no one knows for sure. Recently she suffered some serious injuries, and your Aurora’s Angels Fund donations helped offset some of the cost of the initial treatment. The best way to tell her story is with her adoptive “mom’s” (mostly) own words:

This timid little tortie came onto our deck and stole our hearts. She has been with us for a solid 4-5 years now. We noticed her ear had been tipped and that she had at some point been spayed. For the longest time all we could do was place food and watch from indoors. Over time, she would stand her ground on the deck and not run off, but we still couldn’t touch her. Our indoor cats befriended her through the sliding glass door and would meow to tell us when she was there to be fed.

After her first winter, we built her the first version of her outdoor feral cat shelter. While she took to it and benefited from it, the next year we created a better one, with an enclosed area not only for the bed box but for food and water. She loved it. Still she wouldn’t let us touch her. But, she didn’t run off the deck when we would go out to garden or cook burgers either. Slow, steady progress….and then, she decided she would step into the house, turn and run out.

The next winter she received another upgrade to her house as it morphed into a condo with an upper bedroom suite with a heated bed. She stayed put there pretty much all winter long. This spring, we began a more focused effort to try to pet her, by brushing up against her when we fed her. Over a few months of time, she began to allow petting, and occasional snuggles.

Then recently I found her lying very still but panting very rapidly at the back door. She couldn’t move to resist the carrier or the drive to A Cat Clinic. After stabilizing her at the clinic, she was transferred to an emergency facility. Once there, she spent 3 days in an oxygen tent, with badly damaged lungs and 4 broken ribs. There is no doubt now that she will become an indoor only cat and will slowly get the needed socialization to transition into our home. We are so happy she selected our home to become hers. We hope she loves her time with us as much as we know we will lover our time with her.

Just what happened to Elena we’ll never really know. It is likely she was hit by a car or suffered some other severe trauma. There are so many dangers outside that an indoor cat never has to be concerned with! Thanks to all our wonderful clients who donate to our Aurora’s Angels Fund and help us provide needed care for kitties like Elena. We saw her for a follow-up exam a few days ago, and she is slowly improving.  Her breathing is better, but the bruising and fractures will take some time to heal.  All things considered, she is one lucky kitty to have survived that trauma and found such a wonderful, caring home!

Elena’s family has started a GoFundMe page to help finance her care at the referral hospital. To contribute towards her medical care, please click here.