Frisky Feline ‘Starfish’ is Lucky to be Alive after Losing a Leg in Car Strike in South Boston

A friendly, ghost-white cat now named “Starfish” is lucky to be alive after she was rushed to the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center on April 27 by a good Samaritan who found her injured and cowering under a car in South Boston during a rain storm, the MSPCA-Angell announced on May 10. The cat—who MSPCA staffers believe is about seven months old—weighs about eight pounds and was wearing a red collar when she was found but had no identification tag or microchip, making it impossible to identify an owner. She arrived critically injured, with her left hind leg nearly crushed and her rear right paw stripped away, likely from being trapped and dragged under the wheel of a car. Scared, Broken and Cold
Starfish was found hiding underneath a car on the corner of Summer and East Second Street in South Boston, streets adjacent to a number of active construction zones and marked by high-speed traffic. Laura (Savard) Gallagher, a nearby resident, spotted her beside the car’s wheel as a cold rain drenched the neighborhood.

1,991 Views

Springtime Temperature Rise Brings Concerns for Dog Safety

With almost 70,000 animals treated each year, the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center is one of the busiest 24-7 emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals in the world—and springtime in New England is one of the busiest seasons. “After a long winter we’re arriving at what feels like spring, and the longer days, sunshine and warming temperatures are encouraging us to spend as much time outside as possible,” said Dr. Kiko Bracker of Angell’s Emergency & Critical Care Unit. “But we must remember that our pets have spent the last six months mostly inside and disaster—in the form of heat stroke or death—can strike if they’re suddenly forced to engage in strenuous outdoor activity without time to acclimate.”

Warm Temperatures Demand Caution
Dr. Bracker urges caution to ensure the transition from the lazy winter slumber to springtime excess goes smoothly for pets. Topping the list of veterinarians’ concerns: heat. “Most people think the intense late summer heat waves are the most dangerous period for pets—but in reality we see far more cases of heat stroke in the early spring,” said Dr. Bracker.

2,941 Views

Homeless Dog in Beirut Survives Gun Blast to the Face, Undergoes Reconstructive Surgery at Angell Animal Medical Center

A stray dog from Beirut, Lebanon is lucky to be alive after he was shot in the face at close range and rescued from the streets by volunteers from Animals Lebanon before being flown to the U.S. on Jan. 31, where he was taken in by Sweet Paws Rescue in Groveland, Mass. The Sweet Paws Rescue team sought advice from area veterinarians about how best to repair the extensive damage to the two-year-old dog’s face and ultimately sought out Dr. Mike Pavletic, head of surgery at the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center. “Luke,” as he’s since been named, was evaluated last week by Dr. Pavletic and his team. “It appears he was shot at close range with ammunition similar to buckshot because there was so much damage to his skull and face—I’m astounded that he even survived,” said Dr. Pavletic, who noted that Luke has been breathing through a hole in his snout because his nasal passages were seared closed by the blast.

2,858 Views

Angell Animal Medical Center: Protect Dogs Against Canine Version of Flu Virus

Flu season is well underway in Massachusetts—and with it the body aches, congestion, fatigue and other ills associated with our collective seasonal misery. Now veterinarians at the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston are concerned about a second category of potential victims: dogs. There is zero risk of dogs contracting human flu—nor is there a canine flu epidemic underway in Massachusetts. However, several states, including Illinois, Georgia and Kentucky, are racking up hundreds of positive canine flu tests and that has the veterinary community concerned. “This flu season has been severe for humans and that’s why there is so much attention on flu right now,” said Dr. Virginia Sinnott of Angell Animal Medical Center.

2,150 Views

Long Suffering ‘Scottish Fold’ Kitten Arrives in Boston by Way of NYC and Ukraine

If cats could talk we would be amazed by the stories they could tell. Such is the case with Scottie, a four-month-old purebred Scottish Fold kitten surrendered to the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center in November in very ill health and a back story that beggars belief. Scottie was bred in the Ukraine and then imported to a kitten reseller in New York. She was then purchased online by an individual in Boston and shipped to Massachusetts. Owing to her long and arduous journey—as well as the premature separation from her mother—Scottie arrived with a severe upper respiratory infection, and she was significantly underweight.

7,010 Views

MSPCA Seeks a Ho-Ho-Home for Tiny Yorkie with ‘Floating Head’

If badges for courage were awarded to homeless animals then two-year-old Yorkshire Terrier “Scrappy” would surely win, say staff at the MSPCA-Angell who have been caring for the tiny four-legged pup since he arrived at the shelter in August barely able to walk, and with a worrisome leftward tilt to his head. X-rays confirmed Scrappy was born with a congenital deformity marked by missing bone where his spine connects to his head. Since birth, Scrappy made do with these deformities, but a tumble down the stairs prior to his surrender severely damaged his nervous system, and that made walking, running and playing very difficult for him. Scrappy’s family was unable to meet his evolving needs and opted to surrender him to the MPSCA, which assumed responsibility for his care. “Our best option was to fit Scrappy with an immobilizing head and neck brace, which he wore nonstop for two months to allow scar tissue to form,” said Dr. Jennifer Michaels of Angell Animal Medical Center’s neurology team.

2,442 Views

Angell Animal Medical Center Fixes Cat Hit by Car, Now She Needs a Home for the Holidays

A good Samaritan in Lawrence, Mass. heard the faintest of cries when returning home on Nov. 20 and followed the sound to her porch stairs where, cowering underneath, she found a cold, hungry and critically injured cat. The cat, who has since been named "Samosa," was ultimately rushed to Angell in Jamaica Plain where surgeon Emily Ulfelder confirmed she was in very rough shape. “Aside from fractures to her pelvis and elbow—which are critical in their own right and ultimately not survivable if left untreated—she was anemic and very weak due to extensive internal bleeding.”

One of her injuries was so severe and uncommon that Dr. Ulfelder had never actually seen it outside of textbooks.

1,804 Views

MSPCA Rescues Street Kitten Whose Collar had Embedded Into Her Skin

A social and outgoing kitten now named “Nickie” is breathing a sigh of relief at the MSPCA-Angell after shelter veterinarians surgically removed a collar last Thursday that had embedded itself so deeply into her neck that her skin had grown around it. Nickie was spotted several times in Dorchester by an anonymous good Samaritan who ultimately came to her aid, plucking her from the street and bringing her to the shelter on Nov. 1. Dr. Cynthia Cox, director of shelter medicine for the MSPCA, was first to examine Nickie, who remained friendly and gentle throughout despite the pain associated with the collar growing into her skin. “This unfortunately is an injury we’ve seen before,” said Dr. Cox, who surgically removes collars from one or two cats every year—even as dozens more arrive at the shelter with “severely constricted” collars.

2,715 Views

Homeless Cats from Hurricane-Ravaged St. John Coming to Jamaica Plain

On Tuesday the MSPCA-Angell took in 34 cats from the St. John Animal Care Center on St. John, the smallest of the three U.S. Virgin Islands that was left devastated when Hurricane Irma barreled through as a category 5 storm on Sept. 6, clocking wind gusts of up to 200 miles per hour. The cats arrived at Nashua Airport in Nashua, New Hampshire on Tuesday evening.

2,682 Views

MSPCA Seeks ‘Super Heroes’ for Jamaica Plain’s Most Challenging Cats

The MSPCA-Angell is seeking Wonder Women and Supermen to open their hearts to the shy, the feisty and the demanding! The MSPCA-Angell’s three adoption centers in Massachusetts have turned over every imaginable stone in recent years to place more cats than ever into permanent homes, with regularly occurring “fee-waived” adoptathons playing a central role in efforts that have ratcheted the organization’s adoption rate to an all-time high of 90 percent. Now the organization is launching the “Challenging Cat Challenge,” a one-day fee-waived adoptathon to be held Saturday, Aug. 26 for cats whose personalities and habits—from shyness to feistiness and everything in between—have hampered their ability to get new homes. According to MSPCA officials, dozens of the cats living in its Jamaica Plain, Methuen and Centerville adoption centers are categorized as “challenging.” These cats stay in the adoption centers longer while watching other cats leave for permanent homes.

1,776 Views