Thank you for taking the time to visit our appeal page and reading Saffron's story:

Saffron is approximately 9 months old and came into our care emaciated, 8 weeks pregnant and having difficulty breathing. Despite this she was a bright and loving little girl, constantly purring. Her lack of appetite plus the breathing necessitated a trip to the vet. On examination it was clear that there is something wrong with her chest but due to the pregnancy a full examination was not possible. 

A few days later we had an eventful birth in the litter tray! Saffron is just a kitten herself and was obviously bemused by the whole thing. All 4 kittens are now doing very well and after her initial bewilderment she has proved to be a great mum.

Once things had settled a bit we needed to get to the bottom of the chest problem. An x-ray and scan quickly identified that she has a diaphragmatic hernia (hole in the diaphragm) and that small intestine and other organs are in her chest cavity restricting her breathing. Her appetite is also impaired so her fosterer, Nicki, has to force feed her high protein food which is distressing for both of them. Nicki has also put the kittens on shift so that saffron only has 2 at a time as this will help preserve some of her energy.  

We work very closely with our local vet practise and surgery can be done to correct Saffron's problems, but unfortunately at significant cost. At Cats Protection we are here to give every cat the best possible life and we will do this for Saffron. Our branch can only care for cats and kittens because of the generosity of our local community, so we want to say thank you for all the support you have given us.

Any donations received above the cost of Saffron's surgery will of course go to caring for other cats and kittens in the Blandford and Sturminster Newton areas.

You can TEXT to donate to this appeal - Text SAFF70 £5 to 70070 to donate £5.
http://blandford.cats.org.uk
Call us on 01258 858644
Email:
blandfordcats@btinternet.com