Gracie, the now one-eyed cat, is in need of donations for her surgery and recovery.
She was found last week just outside of Elora near Second Line during harsh winter weather. Since her condition wasn’t immediately life threatening she was placed on a five day hold in case her owner came to claim her.
An owner didn't contact the Guelph Humane Society (GHS) during that time.
Gracie had surgery Wednesday afternoon and GHS hopes to release an update Thursday with a recovery story, said Jane Dawkins, GHS spokesperson.
The humane society is asking the community for help by contributing to its $3,000 goal for her surgery and recovery. It’s raised just over $2,000 so far.
It is pretty unusual for a community call-out like this and is usually only for immediate surgeries or life-threatening circumstances. Last year there were about six emergency cases where it went to the Guelph community to ask for donations.
Gracie was sent into urgent surgery because she was in pain and there was significant damage to her eye, said Dawkins. Her eye will be removed and stitched over.
Veterinarians don’t know how long the eye has been damaged for. It could be a result of former trauma to the eye and could be why it looks clouded over. It could also be a hereditary condition.
It’s estimated that she is about two-years-old.
“We had one person give because they adopted a cat last year named Gracie, and they wanted to help this Gracie, which I thought was really touching,” said Dawkins.
Many people who donate want to make a difference in these animals' lives and they were moved by Gracie’s story, she said.
“This is when I wish I could win the lottery so I could give a good sum of money for this type of thing. Poor baby! I hope everything goes well and the recovery is fast with no complications,” said one comment on a GHS Facebook post.
“So heartbreaking. Poor sweetie,” said a comment on Instagram.
“She will be a one-eyed cat. But she'll do well. I mean, cats can do really well after a surgery like this, so it's best to get her out of her pain and into recovery,” said Dawkins.
It will be a couple weeks until Gracie recovers, then she will be put up for adoption.
