A kitten found near death has been given a second chance at life.
Micah and Angelique Shearer-Kudel found the cat Thursday lying at the side of a road in Stratford.
She was seriously hurt with a broken leg, open wound on her jaw, and possible spinal injury.
The Guelph couple didn’t know what happened to the kitten. It wasn’t clear if she had been hit by a car or attacked by an animal.
It was suggested the kitten should be euthanized but the Shearer-Kudel’s refused and decided to go through with surgery.
They also named the kitten Poppy.
“It’s the first flower to have grown after World War I,” says Angelique. “The first flower to pop out of the ground after all the terrible things that happened there. I thought it was very fitting for her.”
Poppy had minor surgery to fix her wounds. Her next appointment, on July 17th, will determine whether her leg will need to be amputated.
“If she could keep all four legs that would be amazing,” says Angelique. “If she only has three she’ll still be just as great.”
Poppy’s surgeries would cost thousands of dollars.
So the couple created a GoFundMe campaign in the hopes their friends and family would help pay a portion of the vet bills.
They were overjoyed when a cat photographer in Washington shared their crowdfunding campaign on social media.
“We saw our donations go from $265 to $1,722 in the course of an hour. It was insane.”
Poppy’s campaign reached its goal in just 24 hours.
The Shearer-Kudel’s aren’t sure if they’ll keep Poppy or put her up for adoption.
With reporting by Abigail Bimman
