Animals in Need express importance of seeking help for rescued animals

Animals In Need (AIN) are appealing to people to immediately seek professional help by contacting a vet or local animal rescue if they find a sick or injured animal, as the chance of survival decreases the longer veterinary treatment is denied.

AIN understands that people want to help, but appropriate care can make all the difference between full recovery and there being no hope of survival.

There have been a number of occasions recently, where AIN has been contacted days after an animal has been found, at which point the injury has not healed, or the animal is becoming sicker. By the time they arrive at AIN, the animals are in a worse state than when they were found. Their finders obviously had good intentions, but the kindest thing to do is to ensure that the animal has the correct treatment.

On Monday, a small kitten was brought to AIN suffering from an injured spine, paralysis in both back legs and with no bladder or bowel control, his bladder being completely distended. Sadly, despite an urgent veterinary assessment, nothing could be done to save him. The kitten had been found five days before and had been kept by his finders in the hope that he would recover. Unfortunately, by the time the kitten saw a vet, his bladder was about to rupture, and he was beyond help.

At this time of year, AIN is inundated with kittens, many of them suffering from sore, infected eyes.

In the past couple of weeks, kittens Dobby and Harry each lost an eye as their eyes had ruptured due to untreated eye infections. They are both making excellent recoveries following surgery.

At the weekend, kitten Bobby was rescued after he was found staggering along, alone in a car park. The young people who found Bobby took him to see a vet and then looked after him until he could be brought to AIN the following day.

Sadly, Bobby’s eye problems are not a simple case of infection as was thought originally. He has a more complicated case of Microphthalmia with Entropion eyelids on both eyes. This means he has micro eyes and his eyelids are turned inwards. AIN already has another kitten, Cashew, with the same condition. As Bobby’s eyelids are turned inwards, his eyelashes are scratching the eyeballs when he blinks, which must be very uncomfortable.

Bobby is doing well despite his condition and when he is older, he will need surgical correction on his eyelids or bilateral eye removal. This condition is usually caused by viral infections (such as feline herpes virus or toxoplasmosis) during fetal development, genetic mutations, or nutritional deficiencies in the mother during pregnancy.

Meanwhile, kitten Tiana is recovering well after surgery on her broken jaw and having a leg amputated. Tiana had a miraculous escape after being found in a busy traffic lane in Letterkenny and survived having a lorry and a bus drive over her, which thankfully missed her. She has settled in well at the cattery and has made firm friends with another kitten called Bernie.

Kitten Breeze was due to have a hernia operated on at the vets, but became very sick just before surgery, which had to be postponed. Breeze is feeling much better now.

AIN’s dog rescuers are busy as ever. The foster places are permanently filled. As soon as a dog leaves for a new home, they are immediately replaced by another dog that has been waiting to come in.

AIN regularly takes dogs from the Donegal Dog Shelter (Letterkenny Pound) that have not been reclaimed or rehomed. Most of these dogs are collies.

Last week, AIN rehomed a lovely young dog called Dottie and are delighted to have an update from her owner that Dottie had quickly settled in at her new home. Dottie is one of Nora’s pups. Nora was pregnant and straying around Buncrana for a few weeks before giving birth and hiding her pups in a huge pile of wood. The Dog Warden managed to dig the pups out of the woodpile, and they were brought to AIN to be fostered, alongside their mother Nora. The pups thrived in their foster home, and all have now been rehomed, as has Nora who has been neutered, so there will be no more pups for her and she can start to enjoy living life to the full.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering, etc., please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries, please call 087 7644420. Animals In Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website.