ReBa - A Story Of Hope
We were in the middle of the emergency care for a dog when locals rushed to our Animal Rescue Center with a wounded cat.
From the distance I saw that she has a deep long cut that goes from the spine to the thorax.
The locals told us that she had fallen from a metal roof and that the edge of the roof had ripped her body of during the fall.
I told my helpers how to carry on with the dog and anesthetized the cat.
Once she was sleeping I examined the wound.
It took my breath away when I saw the severity of the injury.
I front of me was a cat lying on the table, with a perforated thorax so that I was able to see her inner organs.
Many times I have been stitching wounds but this was completely different.
It needed a surgery trough all the tissue layers.
Two things were clear, this cat was not in the condition to be transported on a boat to the mainland and without surgery she would die.
So I had to make a decision.
Either I would try it or I would have to euthanize the cat.
I took a deep breath, phoned the vet to get instructions on how to perform the surgery.
My hands were shaking when I was standing in front of the cat again.
"Calm down, breath, you can do it!" I said to myself.
And then I started.
After a few minutes everything around me was fading and I was completely focused on the cat. Millimeter by millimeter, stitch by stitch, layer by layer.
After every stitch I checked if she is still breathing and if the anesthesia is still sufficient.
It took me almost 4 hours until the last stitch was done.
An antibiotic injection and then there was nothing more to do than to wait.
To wait if she will wake up, to wait if she will get an infection or any other complications.
I was worried but also relieved that the surgery was over and that the cat was still alive.
One day after the wound looked very good, no signs of infection and the cat even started to eat.
But why was her belly so swollen?
After examining her again I discovered that she is pregnant.
Now one week postoperative we were able to remove the stitches and the cat is doing very well.
I call her ReBa which is Tibetan and means hope.
I still can't believe that everything went so well and without any complications and I am deeply humbled that I was able to save her life and those of her unborn kittens.
ReBa and her unborn kittens are just one example of our daily work for the strays in need.
We don't receive any government funding and therefor we solely rely on generous people like you who support our Animal Rescue Project on Koh Lipe.
Please click on the link bellow if you would like to help us to save lives and to make Koh Lipe a better place for the homeless cats: