Two cats' lives saved by surgery

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• By Sara Patterson
• Posted December 14, 2011 at midnight

PHOTO BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

Cadbury, (left), was rescued from " death row" after donating a kidney to Opie (right).

PHOTO BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

Dr. Ai Takeuchi of Memphis Veterinary Specialists in Cordova is caring for two cats involved in a kidney transplant operation in Pennsylvania. Black cat Cadbury was rescued from "death row" in exchange for donating a kidney.

After recently losing several family members as well as another cat, Catherine Addy-Bernstein said, "I'd lost enough" and chose a costly transplant operation for her 12-year-old cat Opie.

For Cadbury the black cat, it was donate or die.In the last five years, lawmakers across the country have debated the merits of reduced prison sentences for inmates who donate organs.

Life-altering rewards in exchange for organs apparently already exist in the cat world, where organ donation has saved hundreds of strays destined for euthanasia since the late 1980s.

And Cadbury, a year-old domestic shorthair sitting on "death row" in a Philadelphia animal shelter, became Memphian Catherine Addy-Bernstein's lucky charm this fall.

Opie, Addy-Bernstein's 12-year-old Siamese, needed a kidney fast. He had suffered kidney disease since he was 4, but late in the summer he stopped eating and started vomiting. A veterinarian said he had two months to live.

"What are my options?" Addy-Bernstein, who has pet health insurance, said she immediately asked.

The 58-year-old had recently lost several members of her family, as well as her oldest cat, Lucy, she said, explaining her rationale behind embarking on the $12,000-$16,000 lifesaving venture for Opie.

"I'd lost enough," she said. "I wasn't going to do it anymore."

Dr. Ai Takeuchi, a veterinarian at Memphis Veterinary Specialists, told Addy-Bernstein about her mentor from veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Lillian Aronson, one of the top veterinarian kidney transplant surgeons in the world.

Opie was soon in his carrier and on a flight to Pennsylvania for a transplant Sept. 13.

His match, Cadbury, was a friendly, spirited stray. Addy-Bernstein agreed to save Cadbury from euthanasia and provide a home for him after he gave Opie a kidney, part of the program's transplant policy.

Celebrating the success of the operation three months later, Cadbury and Opie acted like old friends Tuesday, sharing the small space of the vet's office in Memphis amicably.

Opie spent most of his morning resting, the large patch where he was shaved for surgery still visible, the slight bump of a foreign kidney still present on his exposed right side.

Cadbury sometimes licks Opie on the spot where his former kidney now resides.

"The (cats) have a special connection," said Addy-Bernstein. "I've heard it's the same with human transplants."

Opie's main anti-rejection medication, cyclosporine, makes him a little grumpy, said Addy-Bernstein, but she still expects him to shine when he will be featured on Animal Planet network's "Must Love Cats" TV show in early 2012.

-- Sara Patterson: (901) 529-2542

Dog takes bullets to save owner

Published On Thu Jan 27 2011

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Osmar Persico, 47 and his dog Max who took three bullets to save his owner.

PORTHUS JUNIOR

Thestar.com

Sure, your dog keeps the letter wielding postman from attacking, but would he take a bullet on your behalf?

Dog owner Osmar Persisco of Garibaldi, Brazil, knows the answer is “yes” after his pet Max leapt to defend him from armed robbers, taking three bullets along the way.

Persisco was parking his truck near Max’s favourite field when two armed robbers approached him and demanded the keys to his vehicle.

Persisco resisted and the thieves opened fire, drawing blood after grazing the 47-year-old’s forehead with a bullet.

That’s when Max lost his cool.

“He saw the blood and was furious,” Persisco told Brazilian newspaper Globo. “He left like a rocket to attack the thieves. One of them ran away, but Max dominated the other one. To defend himself, the thief ended up shooting the dog. Max thwarted the assault and saved my life.”

Max was hit twice in his chest and once in his leg, but by then he had scared off the potential thieves.

Persisco rushed the heroic pet he had adopted three years earlier to his local vet. Max is expected to make a full recovery.

“If I didn’t have my dog around, they would have killed me,” Persisco told the paper. “He’s my hero.”

25/01/2011 11h56 - Atualizado em 25/01/2011 11h58

Cão leva dois tiros ao salvar vida de dono em assalto no RS

Max atacou ladrões durante tentativa de assalto em Garibaldi.
'Ele salvou minha vida e será especial para sempre', diz dono ao G1.

Nathália DuarteDo G1, em São Paulo

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Max salvou vida de dono em assalto em Garibaldi
(Foto: Porthus Junior/Pioneiro/Agência RBS)

Quando decidiu levar Max para casa, com poucos dias de vida, Seu Osmar nem imaginava que o cão salvaria sua vida, pouco mais de três anos depois. No último domingo (23), o animal chegou a levar dois tiros para defender seu dono de um assalto, no centro da cidade de Garibaldi, no Rio Grande do Sul.

“Eu estava chegando do interior e estacionei minha caminhonete em frente ao comércio que tenho, no centro da cidade. Havia deixado Max no terreno dos fundos do comércio quando fui abordado por dois homens que anunciaram o assalto. Eles queriam levar a caminhonete, mas eu disse que estava sem a chave. Foi quando um deles sacou o revólver. Só tive tempo de desviar e gritar ‘pega Max’”, conta Osmar Persico, 47 anos.

Seu Osmar foi atingido de raspão por um tiro na testa.  Ao ver o sangue, o cachorro obedeceu ao dono e atacou os assaltantes. “Ele viu o sangue e ficou uma fera. Saiu como um foguete para atacar os ladrões. Um deles fugiu a tempo, mas o outro foi dominado pelo Max. Para se defender, o ladrão acabou atirando no cachorro. O Max me livrou do assalto e salvou minha vida”, diz.

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Os ladrões fugiram sem levar nada. O boxer, mesmo ferido, passa bem, e se recupera das lesões causadas pelos disparos.

“Ele teve duas perfurações por bala, uma no peito e outra na pata dianteira direita, mas se recupera bem. Já está se movimentando e imobilizamos apenas a pata ferida. Ele é um cão muito forte, corajoso, acredito que não ficará com sequelas”, diz ao G1 o veterinário Ari Glock, que atendeu Max após a emergência e segue acompanhando o tratamento do animal.

Max deve continuar morando no terreno próximo ao comércio de Seu Osmar, já que a família mora em um apartamento. "Estamos sempre por perto, passeamos todos os dias, e isso vai continuar. Ele já era importante para nós, e agora, para mim, vai ser especial para sempre", afirma Persico.