Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell
Our Most Special Patients: Stories of Compassion
Encompassing many aspects of veterinary medicine, the practice of shelter medicine generally remains focused on the health and welfare of the animal population. None-the-less, needs arise to provide specialized individual care to some of these creatures. These often become our most special patients. We'd like to share some of their stories. Funding for medical care of animals like these remains limited. Please consider supporting our efforts. Help Support the Program.
Hugo's Story
"Hugo", a large timid tomcat, arrived at the shelter one evening in the fall of 2006. the person who brought him said he had shown up at about a year ago and he had been taking care of him since, but could no longer continue to do so. Hugo was in a cardboard box, hunkered down and the staff left him in his box and placed him a holding cage. His ear flaps were bent forward, covering his ears and he had a bad odor. He drew his neck into his shoulders as to hide when the staff reached out a hand to him. They nicknamed him "Sad Sack Hugo" because he was such a messy, pathetic sight.
The next day, the shelter's veterinarian examined Hugo. She vaccinated him, treated him for fleas, diagnosed an ear infection and started him on antibiotics. She also tested him for FeLV and FIV and found that he was FIV positive. (FIV, or feline immunodeficiency virus, is a disease of cats that can weaken the immune system, making them prone to chronic infections and the development of tumors.) A few days later, the veterinarian anesthetized Hugo, to neuter him and remove a growth from his right ear canal. Hugo recovered fine from his surgery and began to adapt to the strange surroundings of the shelter. The staff continued to treat him with antibiotics and ear medications, but the infection in his ears did not respond. The shelter's veterinarian was determined to make Hugo well so that he could be offered for adoption and so she anesthetized him again to examine and flush his ears. She took a culture to be sure she the antibiotics would be effective. She also removed his deformed ear flaps in the hope of opening his ears up to drain better. After a few more weeks of treatment, Hugo's left ear cleared up, but his right ear remained tender, infected and smelly.
The shelter was discouraged and saddened that they could not get Sad Sack Hugo over his painful ear infection. At this point, he had been in a small cage for 5 months undergoing treatment and was growing depressed. The Cornell Maddie's Shelter Medical Team saw him in the shelter and offered to help. Dr. Griffin was able to provide a solution that involved foster care (to get Hugo out of the shelter and into a temporary home for treatment) and treatment at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. Together with resident, Dr. Stephanie Janeczko they consulted with other specialists including a dermatologist, radiologist and surgeon to treat Hugo's ear. Following a complete medical evaluation, a CT scan was performed and a growth was discovered deep in the right ear canal. The growth was surgically removed and Hugo's ear infection was finally able to be successfully treated! Hugo recovered in foster care. After a couple of months, he was adopted by a home where he would be the only pet and the center of his new mom's life-someone who wanted a "special needs" cat to take care for and love. Indeed, the stars truly lined up to make a happy ending for this special cat!
Skipper's Story
"Skipper" was just a plain black cat. He was thin and had a badly injured leg, but otherwise seemed healthy and good-natured. The shelter decided to treat his wounds and see if he could get better. They had no veterinarian to help them, but they knew to keep his wounds clean and be sure he was eating.
But Skipper did not do well-not because of his leg-but because he developed a horrible upper respiratory infection in the shelter, and a horrible case of diarrhea. He quit eating, developed a fever and became dehydrated. In the face of this, his leg could not possibly heal and it began to get infected as well.
Drs. Griffin and Janeczko were paying a visit to the shelter that day. They were in the area for a conference and had planned to stop by for a tour and to offer consultation and staff training. When they arrived at the shelter, the staff asked them to examine Skipper and several other cats that had also developed respiratory infections and diarrhea. Drs. Griffin and Janeczko reassured the staff that these infections were not their fault-shelters everywhere have great difficulty controlling them. They commended the staff for caring for the cats and explained that the first step would be to diagnose the causes of the infections, then treatment and preventive strategies could be prescribed.
But, they were a very long way from Cornell in Ithaca, NY and were scheduled to catch a flight back the next day. How could they collect, preserve and transport the specimens back to Cornell that would be required to diagnose the cats? The answer was simple: the best sample would be an entire cat, so they purchased an airline ticket for Skipper and he flew in the cabin with them to Ithaca where he could undergo diagnostic tests-that would serve to diagnose and help him-and all of the other cats back at the shelter.
Drs. Griffin and Janeczko returned to Cornell and diagnosed Skipper with a bacterial infection causing his respiratory disease and a protozoal infection causing the diarrhea. They began treatment of Skipper and were also able to prescribe and instruct the shelter staff on treatment of the other cats. The following message was received the very next week. "The shelter cats are doing better on the medications you prescribed. Actually as of Tuesday there were no more sick ones."
As for Skipper's leg, with his other infections under control, his leg healed readily and he gained weight. Skipper was adopted with only a scar as a reminder of his illness and is now enjoying life in Ithaca, NY! His flight to Cornell saved his own life and the lives of many other cats in a shelter far away. It also gave inspiration and knowledge to the dedicated shelter staff caring for the cats each and every day. Skipper's flight exemplifies the spirit and goals of the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell.
Note: Medical care for "our most special patients" was made possible through private donations.