Ezra was brought into the SPCA at only a few weeks old with his eye stuck shut due to ocular discharge. Photo / Supplied
Ezra was brought into the SPCA at only a few weeks old with his eye stuck shut due to ocular discharge. Photo / Supplied
The Hastings SPCA Centre is crying out for people to open their homes and foster an SPCA animal.
It has been proved that the love and support of a foster home help animals that may not have had the best start in life to grow and recover twice as fast.
Ezra, a now-six-week-old kitten, is an example of how much of a difference a foster home can make.
At a few weeks old, Ezra was found wandering around a worksite in Napier and was found by a worker after their night shift.
The stray kitten arrived at the Hastings SPCA Centre severely underweight, with his eyes completely shut with ocular discharge.
Ocular discharge is mucus, pus or excessive tearing from the eyes.
Now Ezra is about six weeks old, and a week into his stay at a foster home he is growing fast with his eyes now wide open. Photo / Supplied
Hastings SPCA customer service administrator and volunteer co-ordinator Nicole Brebner explained these symptoms are most likely caused by "cat flu", which covers multiple bacteria.
If cat flu is left untreated, it can cause eye ulcerations and even eye rupturing. If the eyes rupture, the only treatment is for them to be removed surgically.
"Fortunately, Ezra was found just in time, it's still early stages, but it's looking positive that Ezra won't have long-lasting damage," Brebner said.
She said the SPCA often sees kittens brought in with scarred or ruptured eyes due to not receiving the necessary treatment.
Because he came into SPCA care extremely underweight, his foster parent is giving him monitored feeds and giving medication to help him recover from his cat flu.
Brebner said, "Being placed in a foster home has given Ezra the one-on-one attention he needed to recover."
While SPCA staff provide essential care, medical treatment and enrichment in the shelter, foster homes provide additional socialisation that benefits recovery while preparing the animal for adoption.
Last summer more than 1500 kittens a month were coming into SPCA nationally, putting pressure on centres already at capacity.
The Hastings SPCA is already seeing increasing numbers and is desperately looking for foster homes to help kittens like Ezra.
