Please help Sylvester to get back to health!

$825 of $600 goal

Given by 14 generous donors in 5 weeks

Please help Sylvester to get back to health! Animal Rescue Network New Zealand must raise $600 to cure him from thyroid disease!

Otago

Dear supporters, we will not be able to afford Sylvester's treatment without your generous help.

We introduced Sylvester to you last year, together with two other cats from the same household. All three of them are older cats and unfortunately their owner can't afford medical treatment for them. For the owner, this is absolutely heartbreaking, as she loves her boys dearly.

Last year you helped us to have thyroid tests done for Sylvester, Simba and Olly. As it turned out only 10yo Sylvester had hyperthyroidism. Olly's tests were normal and 14 yo big boy Simba had kidney problems. However with the help of our vet, we managed to get Simba back into good health. Before we treated him he was only skin and bone (like Sylvester was), but now he has put on a good amount of weight and is looking very good.

We decided to first see if thyroid medication would work for Sylvester, so he was on pills for few months and changed a lot. He put on weight, his appetite is normal now and his little heart is not beating so fast that you might think it will jump out of his chest. All in all he is much happier cat.

But it is expensive, time consuming and also challenging to make sure he gets his pill every day. Also, the dosage must be adjusted which means more tests at $280 each. All told, a significant ongoing cost.

Radioactive Iodine is a much better solution for Sylvester.

This might sound a bit scary but it is the current treatment of choice for most hyperthyroid cats as it is a safe and effective cure.

Radioactive iodine is administered as an oral suspension (liquid form) which then selectively destroys the abnormal thyroid cells. This is curative in 95% of all hyperthyroid cases. There is no anaesthetic involved and there are no direct side effects or radiation sickness.

But without your help we just can’t afford to do it.

Just look at before and after shots of Sylvester, he is clearly improved a lot, you can imagine how good he will look and feel if we will cure him!

If you would like to help Sylvester please follow the link to donate for his treatment!

Thank you so much guys for being with us, you all are amazing!

Cat Rescue Dunedin's involvement (page creator)

I started Animal Rescue Network NZ a year ago in Dunedin. Since then we managed to help over 400 cats and kittens. It is very hard work, but we know that we making a difference to so many lives.

About us

In January 2015 Cat Rescue Dunedin was formed by a small group of Dunedin residents who had seen the need for someone to begin helping the wild-born and abandoned cats and kittens living on the streets of Dunedin.

We became a charitable trust in June 2015, and since then we have desexed and rehomed hundreds of kittens which would otherwise have been left to breed uncontrollably. We were formerly known as the Animal Rescue Network NZ.

We are committed to reducing the wild-born and stray cat population through a combination of TNR and adoption.

Cats which are unable to be socialized to live with people can be humanely managed by a process known as trap, neuter, return (TNR). This means that the cats are desexed and returned to their environment where a caretaker feeds and monitors the cats to ensure their continued wellbeing. Desexing the cats ensures that their numbers don't increase, and over time the colony size reduces naturally.

Our long-term aim is to have our own shelter but until then all of our cats and kittens are fostered in private homes until they are ready for adoption.