Lisa, a FHS volunteer, rescued a kitten from Collin County Animal Shelter.  She took him to Dr. Shelton at 380 West Animal Hospital for testing and the kitten seemed to have a leg injury.   Dr. Shelton said he would take an x-ray to see what was going on. The x-ray showed  the poor little kitten had more damage than could be imagined.  His internal organs were pushed up into his chest area putting strain on the diaphragm and lungs and probably causing great pain.

Dr. Shelton said he had seen that before in a large dog and had successfully performed surgery to move organs back to where they were supposed to be but he wasn't confident he could do a similar surgery on such a tiny kitten.

Lisa left with a heavy heart thinking Dr. Shelton would have to euthanize the little kitten. 

However, after much tossing and turning overnight, Dr. Shelton just didn't have the heart to put this little sweet guy down and he decided to do the surgery.

Dr. Shelton and his Vet Tech, Liz, spent the afternoon working on this kitten.

Fate's liver, diaphragm, and stomach were shoved into his left chest cavity. His left lung was totally compressed with all these organs smushed on top of it.  Liz had to breathe for Fate throughout the entire surgery since they had his chest cracked open.  One by one, Dr. Shelton pulled each organ out and put it back where it belonged and except for his stomach being 80% herniated, the other organs weren't that damaged. He fixed the stomach and put everything back where it belonged as best he could. Then the amazing lung! Liz began to breathe air into it very gently and it started turning pink and working!!! She said that was the most amazing thing to see.

For obvious reasons, everyone who saw this surgery said it was very emotional and amazing.  Fate is such a glorious little kitten.   When his foster lets him out of his soft crate, he walks around her kitchen just rubbing and purring on everything.  Before we knew the extent of his damage, when Dr. Shelton first had him on the examination table and he was purring and rubbing away, Dr. Shelton said, "Ah, this little guy is going to make a great cat for someone."

To make this story even more amazing, Dr. Shelton did not charge Frisco Humane for the surgery - he said it was a learning experience which would serve him in a good stead in the future.

We would like to thank Dr. Shelton and all his staff for the work they do for Frisco Humane Society.

Rescue groups couldn't exist without the kind help they get from the vets who are willing to give their time and money for rescued dogs and cats.  In return for their compassion, please give your support to these vets whenever possible.