Your gift will be matched up to $40,000!
Unfortunately, in the last year, we’ve had to continue our stomatitis campaign as we find more of our cats are in need of this surgery. We’ve also had a few cats come to us injured due to leg hold traps used in bird conservation. These cats were sent off-island for emergency surgery to have their leg amputated. We’ve also had to perform several eye removals. The good news is that all of our cats are recovering and thriving at our Sanctuary. The not so good news is that it is very costly. With tourism down considerably in Hawaii, we just aren’t seeing visitors to our Sanctuary like we used to, so that means fewer donations.
Will you help us? In order to maintain our level of care, our goal is to raise $100,000 for our 653 cats by the end of the year. We’re starting off our campaign today for Giving Tuesday. The first $50,000 will be matched by four generous donors! No matter how big or small, every penny counts towards our goal.
Stomatitis, an often debilitating condition that is so painful that many cats prefer to starve themselves to death rather than eat, still affects more than 100 of our cats. The best way to cure stomatitis is a full mouth extraction. It sounds extreme, but it is necessary and most cats get back to their normal selves pretty quickly.
Freya, an 8 year old cat, recently needed to have her eye removed. Most of these surgeries are need because of trauma or infection of the eye and we have 2 to 4 cats that need this procedure each year. After a short adjustment period to get used to loss of peripheral vision, they are barely hindered by the loss.
Another operation a Lanai Lion may need is leg amputation, usually due to trauma. Recently, 6-month-old Bear had to have this surgery after being rescued from a nesting site with an injured back leg. He is now recovering in foster care.
Watch the video below to hear from one of our veterinarians as to why stomatitis is such a pressing need.