(See images of receipts and radiographs at the end of this blog)
Naomi is an approximately 9 month old, sweet female kitten who was spayed during our Spay/Neuter & Wellness campaign in Othos village (Karpathos) this past February (2024). She is well cared for by Father Demetrios Skarvelakis, the priest of Othos, who cares for many other strays in the village; thus extending his love not only to humans, but also to our four legged friends who desperately need it.
Father Demetrios reported to Dr. Katogiritis that this kitten has had trouble defecating for months and he has made efforts to help her by administering laxatives. However, Naomi remained the same, and without treatment she was unable to defecate on her own. He described that she would often cry and shout every time she would use the litter box. Though there was nothing obvious found during her surgery, Dr. Katogiritis requested that the kitten be transferred to Athens to receive proper diagnostics in an effort to help her the best we could through the organization. Our appeal for donations for Naomi raised 235 euros thanks to wonderful individual donors. The total costs for her care so far are: 460 euros
Naomi traveled to Athens with Sophia Hiras after our program ended, and her diagnostics began within two days. She had a full abdominal ultrasound with a specialist (AlphaVet Imaging Center) followed by radiographs at a different practice (Dr. Stefanidis). The thought is that Naomi had a past injury which resulted in narrowing of her pelvic canal and then developed secondary megacolon (early stages)- see radiograph below.
Megacolon is a chronic condition that occurs most often in cats and is basically a mega-sized, stretched-out and ultimately weakened colon. One of the many causes that can result from this is narrowing of the pelvis (either congenital or resulting from injury, such as a car injury). This is Naomi’s case. Megacolon can cause devastating health consequences as the colon fills with old, hardened feces, and the colon is not strong enough to pass the very firm stool. If left untreated, the colon becomes even more weak which then leads to a grave prognosis for the cat. Another consequence of a narrow pelvic canal is dystocia (inability to give birth), in many cases. Cats with this condition are unable to give birth as the kittens cannot fit through the canal. In cases of strays, they often find a painful death. Thankfully, Naomi was spayed so she will not have to suffer through a pregnancy that could have resulted in her death in the streets.
The costs for Naomi’s diagnostics were covered thanks to the donations Animal Welfare Karpathos receives (see receipts below). After her diagnostics were performed, medications were ordered from the US ( costs covered by Veterinary Global Aid, Inc) and then Naomi was escorted back to the island with our wonderful volunteer Silva. Local transportation provided by our volunteer Fotini Lagonikos.. Father Demetrios was eager to receive his sweet stray back, and will be following up with her therapy as soon as her medications arrive in Greece.
If you would like to support Animal Welfare Karpathos, please consider making a donation through our charity approved PayPal (Donate@animalwelfarekarpathos.com) or via our official bank account. You can find all of the information here.
Providing receipts of diagnostics and airfair and medications by VGA
