A York family have thanked the generosity of YorkMix readers and listeners who pledged cash to save a little boy’s kitten.
Baby Carrot is responding to treatment but he is not out of the woods yet. Helen Leigh told YorkMix Radio that they will keep the fundraiser going to pay for the vital final dose of medicine.
Baby Carrot is best friends with two-year-old Theo, the son of Baby’s owners Tara Branch and Zoe Bennett of Woodthorpe, York.
He has feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), caused by feline coronavirus. In the past the virus usually proved fatal. But a new course of treatment has the potential to save his life.
However, the treatment costs £6,500. So family friend Helen Leigh launched a fundraising campaign to pay for it.
“After we were featured on YorkMix Radio, the response was absolutely overwhelming. We were so so touched,” she said.
“And we raised enough money to get him started on the treatment, which was wonderful because he had started getting really poorly and started deteriorating quite a lot. He couldn’t walk, he’d lost a worrying amount of weight.
“Being able to get him started on the tablets literally saved his life. Because if we hadn’t been able to start when we did, unfortunately, I don’t he wouldn’t be with us now.”
The change has been swift. “We had to give him time to respond to the tablets – and boy, did he! If you if you look on our Instagram page, we’ve got videos of him bounding about, thanks to people’s donations.”
And Baby Carrot’s best friend has been there for him.
“Theo has been giving him lots and lots of cuddles and, and really looking after him. He’s been sleeping with Theo, watching watching Disney movies with Theo – he’s been been very well looked after by his best buddy.”