<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><div><a rel="nofollow" class="outbound_link" target="_blank" href="http://www.fark.com/goto/8974211/myfox8.com/2015/12/23/christmas-miracle-tinsel-mishap-may-have-saved-randolph-county-kittens-life/" style="max-height: 1000000px; text-decoration: none; height: 57px; vertical-align: middle; display: block !important;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Eating tinsel is dangerous and can be deadly to cats - but in Junior's case, it ended up being a Christmas miracle, just in time for a happy holiday Caturday.</span></font></a></div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of Fox-8 News (High Point, North Carolina) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://myfox8.com/2015/12/23/christmas-miracle-tinsel-mishap-may-have-saved-randolph-county-kittens-life/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link">http://myfox8.com/2015/12/23/christmas-miracle-tinsel-mishap-may-have-saved-randolph-county-kittens-life/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link</a></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="entry-title" style="margin: 14px 0px; font-family: OpenSans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 56px; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-size: 55px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">’Christmas miracle’: Tinsel mishap may have saved Randolph County kitten’s life</h1><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">RANDLEMAN, N.C. -- Meghan Goedeck calls it a "Christmas miracle."</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Junior, her 11-month-old kitten, swallowed tinsel from her Christmas tree, which became apparent after he started vomiting.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“That's when I went into mommy mode and got off work early and rushed him to the nearest animal hospital,” Goedeck said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Once he was taken to Pointe South Animal Hospital in Randleman, an X-ray would reveal not tinsel in Junior’s digestive system, but another problem.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There was a blockage and when that happens the whole intestines shut down and it just doesn't move,” Dr. Clint Berdeen, a veterinarian at Pointe South Animal Hospital, said as he looked at an X-ray showing food stuck in Junior’s system.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was clear that surgery was a must, but it was an operation Goedeck could not afford.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I would have had to euthanize him,” she said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An employee at the facility knew there was at least one other option -- <a href="http://sergeifoundation.org/" style="text-decoration: none;">The Sergei Foundation</a>.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The foundation assists qualified pets and their owners with life-saving surgery, and it came through just in time for Junior.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I created the Sergei Foundation to help people just as much as their pets to keep the two together,” Karen Fullerton, founder and CEO of the Sergei Foundation, said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Junior is the 98th pet the organization has helped in 2015. It has assisted nearly 300 pets (cats and dogs) since its first full year of operation in 2010.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For Goedeck, the help was truly a blessing.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I started crying. I couldn't stop crying because I knew I wouldn't lose my best friend,” she said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Doctors were able to get to the root of the problem.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"What we did find was a hairball that had turned into a rock and was stuck in his small intestinal track,” Berdeen said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"If we hadn't gone in when we did, he would have died,” he added.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Interestingly enough, doctors say the tinsel incident helped identify a pre-existing issue.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;">Video</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://youtu.be/bAGagTN6_m0">http://youtu.be/bAGagTN6_m0</a></span></p></div><div>--------------------------------<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>