Kitten rescued with litter of strays in Armstrong gets life-saving surgery

One of the kittens in a litter of strays found with their mother in the North Okanagan will be ready for adoption later next month after receiving life-saving surgery.

The litter of kittens, who were just a few days old, were in foster care in Kelowna when one of them started having health problems, according to a BC SPCA media release issued today, July 30.

The foster, local veterinarian Dr. Amy Roberts, quickly realized that there was something wrong with Cherry Garcia. The entire litter is named after ice cream flavours.

“Her breathing was laboured, so at first it seemed like it could be an upper respiratory infection, which isn’t uncommon with outdoor strays,” Kelowna BC SPCA manager Shannon Paille said in the release.

“Upon further examination, we realized it was something far more serious.”

The kitten had a life-threatening birth defect called pectus excavatum where her ribs and sternum weren’t properly formed.

Dr. Roberts got the kitten into surgery to reshape her ribs and expand her chest cavity. Now, Cherry Garcia is recovering in Roberts’ home in a splint for the next four weeks.

The total cost to save the kitten is going to be around $2,150 and people have already donated more than $4,000 dollars to pay for it.

Cherry Garcia should be ready for her forever home in August.

“We’re so lucky these kittens ended up in the foster home that they did.” Paille said. “She really went above and beyond to help Cherry Garcia.”