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Today, we took the G-force litter to the Veterinary Referral Center in Malvern, PA.  We met with Dr. Dietrich Franczuszki, a doctor I have know since 1999.  He had agreed to check out our little Godric and perform the amputation needed to help save his life.

After filling out all our paperwork, we were seen by Dr. Franczuszki. We discussed the plan.  Since Godric is only 120 grams and the lower 1/2 of his leg was dead with his ankle dislocated, we decided to do a local anesthetic block and remove the foot at the point where the skin appeared to be healthy just above his ankle.

Dr. Franczuszki examining Godric.

Placing the Nerve block.

Removing the dead foot and closing the wound.

All done and set up to spend the holiday weekend at my house.

 Thank you all for your support and prayers.  Godric and the rest of his family are comfy and eating very well!  When he is about 8 weeks old we will do a revision surgery that will shorten his stump and make it easier for him to function like a normal three legged cat!

I purchased the Exton Pet Clinic in June of 2006.  From the time I took over the reins and changed the name to Exton Vet Clinic, clients have told us to keep the change and so we started a Kitty Kiddy.  We have used the funds donated to help defray the costs of numerous strays and pet treatments when the owners couldn't afford them.  At the beginning of 2011 we started actively promoting our fund.  Then in February 2011 a veterinarian friend contacted me about a kitten with a shattered femur.  The clinic she was working at that week in Philadelphia had a policy to kill any stray or dumped pet that was injured.  She called me and we agreed the Kitty Kiddy would fund his treatment and we would foster him and put him up for adoption.

She came in with this beautiful 5 month old kitten.  His femur had an open fracture near his knee, but the neck (the part that attaches the ball to the long part of the femur) was also shattered.  This injury appeared to be about 7-10 days old.  There was nothing we could do to save the leg.  He was anesthetized and we removed his leg.  Within two hours, he was standing at the front of his cage head butting the front and wanting us to pet him.  He looked just like the images of Ferdinand the Bull in the children's book of the same name.

When we first started we had named the kitties we fostered fairly randomly.  In 2009, we started naming them in a more orderly fashion.  We had a litter of 4 - the A-team - Abigail, Anthony, Amelia, and Adam.  The next one was a 3 week old orange and white fluff ball with pneumonia found outside of the SPCA.  We fostered him and planned on adopting him out - but Bertram stole my heart and now lives at my house.  Then came Coraline - an adolescent female that was hit by a car and left to die. She had a non-displaced pelvic fracture and with 6 weeks cage rest was healed and able to be adopted.  The adopting family are an avid GeoCaching Family and established their first Geocache in her and our honor.  (Coraline's Lifesavers at www.geocaching.com ).  Next came Ducky - Ducky was an adult female cat that a client found in a winter rainstorm coming out of a class at Temple University.  She loved to splash and play in her water bowl too.  Ducky was spayed and placed with a family that had recently lost their 25 year old cat.  She has had her name changed but remains a very sweet and loving cat and her family loves her dearly.  Last Christmas (2010) Mr. E showed up.  He was an adult male cat that had been trapped when a clients cat had gotten out while home visiting their family over Christmas.  He went to a non-client.  Then came Ferdinand.  We all agreed that the Fund needed a more formal name.  The Ferdy Fund began. www.facebook.com/ferdyfund

This brings us to our current litter.  G-Force - Momma G'linda, Daughter - Gillian, Sons - Gaspar, Gideon, Gabriel, and Godric.  Godric and Gabriel both had a hind leg injured right after birth.  All five kittens came to us from the SPCA with their umbilical cords all twisted and tied together - a true knot of kittens.  With careful manipulation we got them untangled.  Gabriel's leg looks like it is going to be fine.  Godric's leg was devitalized by the cords cutting off all circulation.  This foot will be amputated tomorrow using funds from the Ferdy Fund by an orthpaedic surgeon at our local specialty center - the Veterinary Referral Center in Malvern.  We will continue to foster them until they are available for adoption in February.  If you are able to help - please donate.