Burned cat goes home from vet clinic
Updated: January 24, 2013
URBANA -- A cat burned in a house fire last year finally gets to go home. Dutchess, the kitten, suffered second and third degree burns all over her body in October.
Now, she's doing well enough to leave the University of Illinois Veterinary Hospital. But she'll be going with a different owner.
Her original owners' home burned down and their new apartment doesn't allow pets. So, the woman who saved Dutchess from the flames decided to take her home instead.
Toni Day works with the Gibson City Fire Department. She helped rescue the kitten and even started a Facebook page to gather support for Dutchess. That page now has more than 4,000 fans. And through it, people from all over the world pitched in thousands of dollars to pay for the cat's medical costs.
"It made me feel good that people all over the world are willing to love this little, fluffy animal and put aside the world's differences to help this one animal," said Day.
Dutchess is bandage-free now and she can walk pretty well. She still gets physical therapy to help increase her range of motion. And her little whiskers are growing back too. She'll need to have surgery to fix her eyelids in March. Doctors expect she'll make a full recovery.
The Gibson Fire Department also got a gift in Dutchess' honor. They got a pet oxygen mask donated by ISVMA.
Now, she's doing well enough to leave the University of Illinois Veterinary Hospital. But she'll be going with a different owner.
Her original owners' home burned down and their new apartment doesn't allow pets. So, the woman who saved Dutchess from the flames decided to take her home instead.
Toni Day works with the Gibson City Fire Department. She helped rescue the kitten and even started a Facebook page to gather support for Dutchess. That page now has more than 4,000 fans. And through it, people from all over the world pitched in thousands of dollars to pay for the cat's medical costs.
"It made me feel good that people all over the world are willing to love this little, fluffy animal and put aside the world's differences to help this one animal," said Day.
Dutchess is bandage-free now and she can walk pretty well. She still gets physical therapy to help increase her range of motion. And her little whiskers are growing back too. She'll need to have surgery to fix her eyelids in March. Doctors expect she'll make a full recovery.
The Gibson Fire Department also got a gift in Dutchess' honor. They got a pet oxygen mask donated by ISVMA.
