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A caring Luzerne County, Pennsylvania veterinarian performed surgery on an injured kitten for free and is offering a reward to find the person who shot the kitty.
Barbara Ruger, of Harding, is Peanut’s petmom. Ms. Ruger’s daughter discovered last Friday morning that the 8 month old kitten was injured when she found him in the yard. Peanut had been shot and had a punctured lung.
Dr. Inayat Kathio of Pittston Animal Hospital performed surgery to save the cat’s life for free, and Peanut is staying at the hospital during his recovery.
Dr. Kathio said on Monday: “This poor animal went through pain, he couldn’t breathe. His esophagus had a hole in it and his lung was punctured and he lost lots of blood.”
Ms. Ruger spoke about finding her injured kitten: “You could see where the bullet went in after I moved the fur and that’s when I called Dr. Kathio’s office.”
An x-ray showed a pellet lodged near Peanut’s spine. Tthe surgery took nearly 5 hours and utilized laser technology to remove the pellet and save Peanut’s life. The veterinarian says it’s a miracle that Peanut is alive, and if the pellet wound had been less than a centimeter in either direction, Peanut wouldn’t be here today.
Ms. Ruger owner hopes the kitten can return to his playful, healthy self when he rejoins her and her other cats.
Dr. Kathio finds the attack on the sweet kitten to be very disturbing. “He’s very friendly. He will kiss you to death. He will rub against you and give you all kind of love and he expresses himself,” he said. “How can you hurt a kitten like that?”
Peanut is up and around and doing well thanks to Dr. Kathio’s efforts on his behalf. He is expected to make a full recovery and to go home later this week.
Dr. Kathio initially offered a $1,000 reward to catch the person who shot Peanut, and on Monday, raised the reward for information on the incident to $1,500. He asks anyone with information on the shooting to contact the police or Pittston Animal Hospital.
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This brief news report on the story was made before the reward amount was raised to $1,500.
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What a wonderful vet and human being. I hope the kitten’s owners will keep ALL their cats inside–if they had, this never would have happened.
what a guy!