Spencer Ronald was only five weeks old when he was found outside a nursing home in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
He had been living on the streets, with no one to look out for him.
A kind person found him and immediately took Spencer Ronald to a local vet, where they discovered he was in extremely rough shape.
Knowing Lort Smith would be his best chance at survival, they brought him to our Animal Hospital in North Melbourne.
In saying that he looked pretty flippin' cute with it on!
Jo, Animal Welfare Officer
Treatment
When the Lort Smith team first examined him, they could see he had a badly damaged leg that was bruised, swollen and very sore. Poor Spencer Ronald had multiple suspected bite wounds that were raw and painful.
On top of all this, the darling kitten was showing signs of cat flu.
The team arranged X-rays to get a clearer picture of what they were dealing with. Sadly, they discovered that Spencer Ronald's left back leg had an open tibial fracture and a dislocated hip.
Spencer Ronald's leg was in terrible shape. So, in the kitten's best interests, it was decided his leg would need to be amputated.
The operation was successful and soon enough, Spencer Ronald was up and about, eating by himself. He was particularly partial to Hill's Science Diet kibble for kittens – chicken flavour!
As a not-for-profit organisation, Lort Smith reinvests all funds to support animals and people of lesser means. Providing food for every animal who walks through our door is expensive. But thanks to a longstanding relationship with Hill's Pet Nutrition, this load is lightened significantly. Hill's provides food for all the cats and dogs in our Adoption Centre.
While Spencer Ronald was slowly building up his strength, the team confirmed he had cat flu.
This highly contagious upper respiratory disease causes symptoms in cats similar to what we humans experience when we catch a cold.
Spencer Ronald's symptoms – sneezing, and discharge from his eyes and nose – meant the team had to quarantine him so he wouldn't infect any other cats. As soon as our vets were happy, Spencer Ronald went into foster care with Animal Welfare Officer Jo, where he would spend the next three weeks relaxing, rehabilitating and getting plenty of love and attention!
While he was in foster care, all his food continued to be provided by Hill's Pet Nutrition through their generous food sponsorship program.
The sock jumper
When he first arrived in foster care, Jo noticed little Spencer Ronald was trying to get to his surgery site. Normally these cases call for the cone of shame!
But Jo felt Spencer Ronald needed a little more freedom to help him recover from both his operation and his illness. Jo made a cover for his surgical site to keep it safe – success!
"I made a sock jumper for Spencer Ronald to try to stop him from getting at his surgery site. However he learnt how to take it off. In saying that he looked pretty flippin' cute with it on!" says Jo.
This gave Spencer Ronald the extra comfort he needed to rest and recover.
After several weeks, Spencer Ronald had fully recovered! He had his desexing operation, and in July he was officially adopted by a dedicated family.
Lort Smith's generous corporate relationship with Hill's Pet Nutrition helps reduce the cost of caring for cats and dogs who have no family to care for them. It helps Lort Smith use its resources to give as much support as possible to animals and people of lesser means.