It's been three months of non-stop care for Gus as well as numerous trips to the vet. Their most recent post says that it may take poor Gus ANOTHER SEVEN MONTHS to fully heal.
This means seven more months of monitoring Gus to make sure he's doing ok, giving him his medication (ever tried pilling a cat?), more trips back and forth to the vet to get Gus checked out and lots and lots of money for vet bills.
Their GoFundMe hasn't picked up much traction since I posted their original story last month, so I'm re-posting along with the updates showing how much Gus' owners love him. Please share their GoFundMe link to help Gus.
GoFundMe link: Gus's vet $$ from pit bull attack
Created February 18, 2017 by Donna L. Hollander
WHITTIER, CA
Gus, our flame point Siamese, was attacked by a pit bull Thursday afternoon February 16.
Gus followed John down to the garage. Gus likes to follow John, my husband, everywhere. So it wasn’t unusual that Gus followed John down to the street to our garage. Gus is almost exclusively an indoor cat, but he likes to sit in the sun and pee on plants. Gus had meandered across the street and was standing behind a car.
A man was being walked by his pit bull, on a ten foot long leash. The dog saw Gus and lunged for him. John grabbed the dog by the ears and shook him screaming (and kicking) to let go, the man held on to the leash... I heard the commotion and saw Gus in the mouth of the dog and I started screaming, running downstairs to help.
John was able to get Gus out of the dog's mouth. Gus immediately retreated under the car. John was able to pull him out by the tail. I grabbed the pet carrier and drove Gus immediately to the vet who said his injuries were too extensive for them to handle.
They were able to tell us that Gus' right arm was crushed below his elbow a bone was dislocated and the tendon severed. Additionally half of his right rear foot was mangled.
John met me at the vet’s and we drove Gus 30 miles to the emergency animal hospital in Tustin. The amazing vets there performed a two hour surgery Friday night. The Doctor is happy with the outcome, but said time will tell.
The dog’s owner initially said he would pay for the vet bills, and gave us contact info, but after learning that the bills would be between $4500 and $5800, has stopped answering our calls.
We are currently pursuing all the avenues a responsible pet owner would do to convince the irresponsible dog owner to step/grow/own up. We have reached out to him through phone calls, texts and a letter, to no avail.
In the mean time we need any and all help with the bills now. The hospital asked for half down. . We were able to use the $2000 on my care credit but we had to come up with the $3400 balance to bail Gus out and now we need a bit of bailing out ourselves! Any amount of help is appreciated. We can trade cat hair in great quantities...
They've posted a lot of updates about poor Gus. You can start reading here to see the earlier updates: Pit bull owners says he'll pay the vet bills after his dog mauls cat, but changes his mind when he finds out how high the bills are - leaving the poor cat's owners stuck with the $6,000 bill
Update 1
We came back from the Vet today and Gus got re-bandaged in beautiful blue. The Dr. said he’s doing well; he got his stitches out, and got more pain meds. Dr. said the healing is just going to take awhile.
John and I have been having long discussions about taking this guy to small claims court and at first we were all in. The thing is, this guy is a bad dude. The animal control officer backed away from his house when there was a threatening note on the door and it smelled of pot. She told us that the police are aware of him and his neighbor. He lives just down the road from us and it just doesn’t feel safe to pursue this.
So on that note I am asking all of you, our friends and those who have come to know our Gus a little bit to please share this far and wide. We appreciate any and all help.
Update 2
So yesterday was a bit difficult for our Gus. John had gone outside and I was working downstairs. I thought the door to the downstairs was closed but it was open. Gus not wanting to be alone came looking for me down the stairs. Shocked the hell out of me when I hear him meowing at the bottom of the stairs.
The rest of the day he was just in pain. Poor boy.
So today he's hanging with John, his favorite place.
Update 3
Today has just been hard. Gus' bandages came off but his right front leg is raw. He was licking it too much and making it worse. I re bandaged it on the way home from the vets. I made it a bit too tight, but I knew that we were going to redo it when we got home. So we waited a little while because he was exhausted and then around 4:00 we put Cortizone on it and re-bandaged it. Gus was in pain, he was mad, and all-around in a miserable place. The bandage was put on a little loosely. So he tried to lick it off. I ended up having to put the cone of shame on him. He really hated that. So today Gus is really confronting the damage, the wound, and his leg not working the way he's used to it working. Having had broken bones myself I recognize his actions and they trigger very old memories and me. This is been a hard day all around.
Update 4
Gus and I went to the Vet today, he was a bit more whiny then usual. We are cutting back on the pain killers (maybe not a good idea on a long car ride). He's doing well. The Vet said it takes 3 to 4 months for the bone to heal. So although he is walking, the metal plate is taking the weight and it is important to not let him jump down.
Update 5
Gus saw the Dr. last week and now we get a break from the doctor for 3 weeks. The doctor said it's just going to take time to heal. For an older cat 3 to 4 months. No jumping down because the bone isn't healed even though he's walking on it. It really is the metal bar in his leg that is taking the weight. Gus is still in pain, though we are trying to cut back on the pain meds. He still has nightmares and wakes up 3 to 4 times a night. So we are still sleep deprived. And he sleeps a lot during the day, but then he always did.
Update 6
We went to the Vet today. It's been almost a month and a half. Gus is doing lots better but the vet says it might take 7 more months for his bone to completely heal.
We baby him. He's still in pain but only gets pain drugs once a day.
I just want to thank everyone for all the support that you've given. It's been a challenge.
Earlier:
