As a vet nurse for Lort Smith, Vanessa looks after countless animals every week. But every now and then, an animal will come in who truly captures her heart. Bobbins is one such animal.

The young cat had been hit by a car, causing multiple fractures to her pelvis. She wasn’t able to walk or go to the toilet on her own and her carers sadly couldn’t afford to proceed with the extensive rehabilitation Bobbins would need. Following a CT scan, it was revealed that she had a narrow pelvis, which would cause difficulty in her being able to defecate. Vanessa had to work around the clock with Bobbins, manually expressing her bladder, performing enemas to help her defecate, giving her regular pain medication and doing gentle physio work.

“We just formed a bond,” Vanessa says. “She was a very spicy girl as you can imagine with all she had been through … but I saw improvement and I knew she wasn’t going to give up. And neither was I.”

Vanessa put her hand up to take Bobbins home as a foster, in order to give her time to recover in a quiet and stress-free environment. At least, stress-free for Bobbins!

“It was incredibly stressful for me!” laughs Vanessa. “But I would do it a million times over.”

“She was on four to six different types of medications and giving her those was no easy task, but we managed. She gained trust with me and let me express her bladder and give her enemas when needed but it was always a waiting game to see if she could toilet on her own.”

“The day she did I cried, filmed it and sent it to all the vets and nurses who had helped her. Every time she pooped, I got so excited!”

Soon Bobbins was up and walking, and Vanessa knew their time together would need to come to an end so Bobbins could go on to her forever home. Bobbins is now in a foster-to-adopt arrangement and Vanessa says she thinks they’ve found the perfect home.

They have bonded so well, and I get updates regularly.

That’s why I love fostering — it’s truly incredible to see the transformation that a loving home and a bit of time can do to change the lives of these animals and ultimately the lives of the human who takes them home.”

If you would like to provide a temporary home to animals who need a little more TLC learn more about our foster care program.