Dying Stray Cat Saved By Team Effort in Natick and Waltham

One good Samaritan and many talented partnering veterinarians and specialists have saved all nine of one cat’s lives—and now lucky Lulu is looking for a home and some community support!

Late last week a woman brought a tremendously injured cat to Natick Animal Clinic desperately asking for help. The woman — just a good Samaritan with no connection to the cat — wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a laundry basket having no idea the extent of the massive damage to the entire right side of her body. The cat — now called Lulu — appeared to have been hit by a car before rolling down the hill where she was found lifeless and not moving.

Dr. Andrea Moolenbeek at Natick Animal Clinic evaluated Lulu and quickly realized that she needed a lot of help. They reached out to the area Veterinary community and Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England (VESCONE) in Waltham responded. Putting the cat’s health as the highest priority—despite it being a stray — VESCONE overlooked the potential treatment costs and had her evaluated by Emergency and Specialty doctors immediately. What they found was pretty bad — a broken elbow, multiple ribs, and hip—all requiring significant reconstructive surgeries. This cat’s right side had multiple bone breaks. Additionally she had a life-threatening uterine infection that needed immediate care.

Natick Animal Clinic and VESCONE (Dr. Mary Ann Nieves, Dr. Andrew Ayre, Dr. Claudia Bowman, Dr. Amy Goldstein, Dr. Julie Bailey) continued to work as a team through continuous medical discussion, treatments, and surgeries like metal plates and hip surgery. The good news? This little bionic cat is on the mend all because one person stopped to help when Lulu needed it most—and the veterinarians in the area knew exactly how to treat her!

VESCONE, along with Natick Animal Clinic, are now looking for a great home for this special little lady! Additionally, Lulu needs the community’s support in raising money to pay for all of her treatments which now total over $10,000! If anyone is interested in adopting her, or would like to make a much needed contribution, please call VESCONE at 781-684-8387. Businesses interested in contributing prizes to a raffle for contributors can email Kirsten Sims at ksims@vescone.com.