Pogo’sA Happy Tail!
Pogo enjoys participating in life with her foster family
S tory
Carol Laughner - MHS Marketing Communications Manager
I
t had been a long day at the Monadnock Humane Society veterinary clinic. Dr. Martino, MHS shelter veterinarian, had just finished working a 10-hour day doing spay/neuter surgeries. But,
24 4 Legs & a Tail
when someone reached out earlier that day to Emily, MHS Shelter Director, for help with a tiny kitten with a traumatic leg injury, she knew that kitten needed immediate attention. Pogo was only 4 weeks old and weighed about 1.5 pounds. Her front leg had been crushed in an accident and began to deteriorate quickly. It wasn’t healing and it started to have other negative health effects on the rest of her fragile body. After consulting with Emily, Pogo’s owners made the difficult decision to surrender her to MHS. When Pogo arrived, Emily and Dr. Martino fully assessed her injuries. They knew her chance of surviving a significant surgery was a long shot, but there was a chance. And, it was one well-worth taking. Her situation grew worse by the minute, and they worried she might not make it through the night. She would not
survive much longer without surgery, and so the medical team made the lifesaving decision to operate and remove her injured leg that night. Thankfully, the surgery was a success … however Pogo was still not out of the woods. Emily knew she would require close monitoring and medication for the next several days. Emily had taken many pets home post-surgery to nurse them back to health, so it was not a surprise to her family when she came home that night with a tiny, helpless kitten who needed them. They also knew this would be a longer recovery than others due to the extremely difficult surgery Pogo had just been through. In addition to her injuries, Pogo was semi-feral, so Emily’s family prepared for managing possible behavioral challenges during her recovery. But this tiny kitten came around quickly. She hid in her carrier for the first day, and by the second day she was purring and interacting with Emily’s family. It was truly a miracle how she bounced back from such a traumatic injury and subsequent surgery. She learned how to navigate with three legs – first crawling on her stomSpring 2021
