A Christmas Story - Noel 2010
By Dr. Deborah L Sullivan-Tamboe
This is my story of hope, faith and love this season.               Believe..

   A kitten was dropped (abandoned) on the property of Suncoast Veterinary Care Center recently. Our practice is surrounded by woods and swampland, very beautiful and full of Florida wildlife. This kitten was not meant to be alone outside.  But try as we might, she ran from us and we could not catch her.  She did not trust us and everything was sooo scary.  So, we left food out for her with the hope of gaining her trust and the raccoons came. Our humane trap was destructed.

    For 2 horrible days she called out to us and we knew in our hearts that she was hurt but we could not locate her in the woods.  When the woods became quiet and her voice was gone, we felt incredible despair.

   And then one morning days later, we spotted her outside through the window in our exam room.  She came staggering out of the woods, unable to lift her head but dragging her tiny body closer to the safety of our practice.  We were certain that she did not want to die alone. We rushed outside and helped her as she collapsed into a carrier, then rushed her into the ICU.   She was dying.

   We were jubilant though...if she died in our care, she 
would not die alone and she would not die in pain.
As I assessed her, I realized the extent of her injuries were disastrous. The right side of her neck had a gaping hole, she had lost a critical amount of blood, her skull was exposed on the right side of her head, all the muscle torn away so she could not hold her head up.
She could not use her front legs well, indicating spinal cord injury to her neck and Gangrene had set in.  She was, quite literally, on her last leg.  She weighed only 1 .6 lbs.

   Well, along with intense critical care, a blood transfusion from our very feisty hospital cat - Roger - and a load of faith, love and hope, Noel is still with us and recovering slowly but steadily.



   Suncoast Friends of Animals Foundation, Inc
                 Non-Profit pending 501(c)(3)

We are getting the Gangrene under control and she has started to eat...she is unable to eat with the right side of her mouth and unable to hold up her head very well but she is eating for us! We are jubilant!!!
HOLDING HER HEAD UP!! 
She can see our faces!!!
This picture is post surgery. 
With the Gangrene under control, I cut away all the dead tissue and was left with a huge skin defect. I was able to pull her neck skin up like a sock ( a tight sock) and provide some coverage for healing. A wing and a prayer.
She is sooo precious!
Noel has healed incredibly well (must've been all that Vit E we slathered on)! No more pain or infection, just itchy healing.
Just Amazing!!
And because of Suncoast Friends of Animals, she is on her way home with her forever family today...
Here she is for her last follow up exam and vaccines. Her new family is sooo in love with her!
Noel's progress in pictures...