The Lazzy Fund
At Ten Lives, we’re dedicated to giving a second chance to cats who have been neglected and forgotten, including those in need of critical or speciality medical care. Many of the cats in our program lived difficult lives outside, leading to medical issues above and beyond routine veterinary care. We believe funds should not be the limiting factor when making decisions about urgent, life-saving care. In response to this need, Ten Lives created The Lazzy Fund to provide support to this overlooked population of cats.
In April 2019, Ten Lives responded to a request to help an urgent cat in the community. We learned that he had lived outside for as long as community members could remember, and had been suffering from injuries for many months. Thanks to our Community Cats team, we were able to humanely trap him, along with a number of other cats in need of care, and get him the urgent veterinary services he needed. His foster family named him Lazarus.
Lazarus, or Lazzy, spent a long time trying to survive outside and his condition reflected that. Lazzy had multiple infected wounds, broken teeth, cystitis, hematuria, and a large polyp in his ear. His injuries required extensive veterinary care and frequent follow up visits.
Just when we thought Lazzy was improving, he became critically ill and was hospitalized for a week with sudden onset diabetes and a severe infection. The Ten Lives community rallied around Lazarus and with their support he was able to recover and thrive. Lazarus would go on to have dental surgery and a total ear canal ablation and ventral bulla osteotomy to cure a lifetime of chronic ear infections and remove a polyp. In November 2019, Lazarus was adopted and finally had the family he had always deserved.
Lazzy’s recovery inspired the founder of Ten Lives to establish the Lazzy Fund in his honor. Individuals near and far rooted for him with each challenged faced, and cheered when he was adopted. Lazzy’s story showed us that when a community works together, remarkable transformation is possible.