When Melissa, the Founder and Executive Director of Ten Lives Cat Rescue, started fostering an injured tomcat from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, she had no idea that his transformation would lead to establishing one of the rescue’s key programs, The Lazzy Fund. Prior to being rescued, Lazarus (or Lazzy for short) lived a difficult life outside. He was a cat who belonged to no one, but that changed when he joined Ten Lives in April 2019.
Lazarus faced many health challenges, which he overcame with the support of the Ten Lives community. His remarkable spirit brought an entire community together and showed us that when we work together, we can help the forgotten cats of our community and achieve incredible outcomes.
In turn, Ten Lives established The Lazzy Fund in order to provide vital services to medically fragile cats in our community.
“Ten Lives believes that funds should not be the limiting factor when making decisions about urgent, life-saving care.”
-Melissa, Founder & Executive Director
Many of the cats who join Ten Lives arrive with injuries or illnesses that require veterinary care above and beyond routine services. Often, preventable or easily treated ailments have gone too long without treatment, resulting in the need for urgent or specialty care. The cats featured below are just some of the many cats The Lazzy Fund has helped since its creation.
Neil was rescued by Ten Lives after a Good Samaritan reached out for help with a severely injured cat. Sadly, Neil had been injured for awhile, and his injuries had worsened over time. When volunteers arrived to assess and set up humane traps, they were heartbroken to see Neil had a gaping neck wound and was covered in flies. It was not until Neil was in our care that we realized the extent of his injuries and how much treatment he would need to make a complete recovery.
With support from The Lazzy Fund, Neil received extensive treatment for his wounds, as well as having a nearly full-mouth extraction due to stomatitis. Neil also tested positive for feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and due to this diagnosis, he required a lot of supportive care and follow up veterinary services to fully recover. Thankfully, his foster dad, Brian, was by his side every step of the way and never stopped advocating for him. Brian is now Neil’s forever dad, and we think they make a pretty awesome pair!
“The Lazzy Fund allows Ten Lives to help cats that other organizations simply do not have the funds to support. I am so thankful to donors who support this fund and make their care possible.”
-Sabrina, Foster Manager
Ten Lives rescued Paddington from the same location as Neil. He escaped numerous attempts by local rescuers and spent months living outside in poor condition. Thankfully, our Community Cats team was able to humanely trap Paddington so that he could receive the veterinary care he desperately needed.
Paddington arrived completely matted, and had broken teeth and a nasty upper respiratory infection. We soon learned that he also had a large, infected abscess that required immediate care. The Lazzy Fund allowed Paddington to receive extensive follow up care to appropriately treat the abscess and upper respiratory infection. He was also able to receive dental surgery to remove the broken teeth, which were causing him a lot of discomfort.
During the process of physical healing, Paddington’s foster mom, Rachel, worked to restore his spirit. With tools from our Forgotten Feline program, Rachel was able to gain Paddington’s trust and build his confidence. Now, Paddington is a cherished family member who is loved by his very own human and feline sibling!
“The Lazzy Fund is the gift of life and love for cats typically considered unadoptable due to illness or injury.”
-Terri, Founding Board Director
