Docs Try To Save Oreo's Other Leg; Cat Was Hit By A Car Last Week

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA—Oreo came to Angell Memorial in Jamaica Plain after she had been hit on a busy road in Lawrence on May 20. She was critically injured, and continues to undergo revolutionary treatment to try and save her life.

Oreo arrived at Angell after she was hit by the car and taken to Bulger Veterinary Hospital in North Andover. Her injuries were catastrophic, said veterinarians: the accident left her with a mangled front left leg and with most of the skin torn away from her right hind leg, which was also fractured in multiple places.

Oreo's overwhelmed owners opted to surrender her, and the newly homeless kitty was then sent to the MSPCA-Nevins Farm. "We probably take 20-25 cats struck by cars every year and I can say that Oreo's injuries are some of the worst I've seen," said Mike Keiley, director of the Noble Family Animal Care and Adoption Center at Nevins Farm, in a statement.

Keiley rushed Oreo to the Emergency & Critical Care Unit at Angell where she reportedly captured hearts not only for her will to live but her incredibly social and friendly demeanor.

Dr. Emily Ulfelder of Angell's surgery department amputated Oreo's front left leg shortly after her arrival. "The leg was too far gone to be saved, leaving us with no other option," she said in a statement. Shortly after the amputation Oreo's right hind leg was fitted with a high-tech plastic wrapping that continuously draws moisture away from open wounds while maintaining a negative pressure that draws blood and white blood cells to the area to facilitate healing.

Oreo's rear left leg was also severely injured-most of the skin around the leg had been torn away-and doctors worried that if that leg couldn't be saved then neither could Oreo, because-for all their wonders-cats can't walk on two legs.

Dr. Ulfelder fitted Oreo with a special device, part of which looks like plastic shrink wrap, which for days drew moisture from the wounds on her hind leg while maintaining a negative pressure to encourage blood and white blood cells to circulate. Now, after nearly 10 days, the surgery team believes the leg is stabilized so that the next phase of treatment can begin.

Dr. Mike Pavletic of Angell's surgery team-- famous for re-attaching the skin of a cat whose face was torn away by a fan belt, as well as successfully re-allocating muscle tissue to help a crippled dog walk again pain-free-will perform a delicate skin graft later this week or next, harvesting skin from Oreo's side to re-cover her damaged hind leg, according to the press release. The fur and skin, he expects, will grow back in time.

The MSPCA's Nevins Farm adoption in Methuen (where she was taken after she was struck by the car) will work to place Oreo into a new home after she heals. Her vet bills have already topped $4,500 and her follow-up surgery and hospitalization will cost another $2,000.

The Nevins Farm adoption center team has started a donation drive to help offset the cost of Oreo's care and anyone interested in donating can do so via mspca.org/helporeo.

Oreo will be up for adoption once her surgeries are behind her.

Photos submitted by MSPCA