Rescuing Mr. Right

Oct 15, 2021

PAWS Chicago’s Crisis Care Program provides emergency support for pets of families in need. Whether dealing with health, economic, or personal hardships, PAWS offers a safe place for pets when their people are going through tough times.

However, we recently made an exception and for the first time ever took on a “reverse crisis care” case. In this instance, Zella Wright’s cat, Mr. Right, had a severe paw injury and needed immediate help.

“We learned about Mr. Right’s condition because Zella reached out to our call log. She was looking for vets in the city and couldn’t find a clinic to help at an affordable rate. She couldn’t get him seen until we gave her a call back and by the time she learned we were able to help her, his paws was infected to the point where it had to be amputated, unfortunately,” said PAWS Community Outreach Manager. Yasmine Pacheco.

After performing Mr. Right’s amputation at PAWS Medical Center, our PAWS for Life medical team followed up with in-home visits while also providing medical care to Zella’s other pets.

During the healing process, his rechecks were going really well. Then, while we were at a home visit for one of her other pets, we saw that Mr. Right’s surgical site has become red and a little inflamed. So, we scheduled another home visit for the following week and when we went back, the wound was a little open. That’s when we decided to bring him in for a recheck and determined it would be better for him to stay here,” said Yasmine.

Mr. Right stayed at the Medical Center for 30 days to make sure his wound healed properly. Our team monitored his progress closely, treating him with antibiotics and daily bandages changes. While it was the right decision to put Mr. Right in the care of PAWS temporarily, it wasn’t easy for Zella, and she checked in on his progress often.

“She loves, loves, loves her pets. She wanted us to make sure and promise her that Mr. Right was going to come back to her. She said it was hard for him to be gone,” said Yasmine.

Once back on track with his recovery, Mr. Right was cleared to go home. And as you can see from the pictures, his reunion with Zella was an emotional one. They were equally happy to see each other, and we were overjoyed to make it possible.