East County Animal Rescue ECAR

12/09/2025

TODAY IS SURGERY DAY!
By now many of you are familiar with our beloved foster kitten, Lady. She was rescued on the day she was born 4/30/2025, wheezing and struggling to breathe. It turned out this tenacious kitten had a severe cleft palate and a strong will to live. Since that day 7 months ago it has taken a village to get her to what we are hoping is the finish line today: her cleft palate repair surgery. To get her to this monumental day she has endured:

1,065 tube feedings (by hand)
20 rounds of antibiotics (at least)
8 teeth removed to make room for cleft repair to the tune of $3,544
5 ER trips
4 flights to and from UC Davis
4 surgeries
2 weeks in hotels
Countless hours of research, sleepless nights, dedication and love from her foster.

Her final surgery (hopefully) is going to be $5,000, making the total cost for her specialized surgeries at UC Davis alone $8,500. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lady said it’s so close “she can almost taste it” 😏. Please help us raise money for her final surgery! We promise to post her “First Meal” for you all to enjoy 😛

📢 Ways to donate:

✨Instagram fundraiser
✨Facebook fundraiser
✨Zelle: [email protected]
✨Venmo:
✨PayPal: http://tinyurl.com/supportecar
✨Mail check to:
ECAR
P.O Box 1754
El Cajon, CA 92022

💌 Can’t donate? Please share her story and send her love!

12/06/2025

These are just some of our kitties looking for their forever homes! Come and see us at Petco in El Cajon, Petsmart in Santee and Petsmart El Cajon (see website for more info). You can also email us at [email protected]. WE ARE DOING ADOPTIONS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY WITH AN APPROVED APPLICATION. If a kitty has "ADOPTION PENDING" in their caption this means they have an approved application and appointment set up for adoption.

12/06/2025

08/30/2025

These are just some of our kitties looking for their forever homes! Come and see us at Petco in El Cajon, Petsmart in Santee and Petsmart El Cajon (see website for more info). You can also email us at [email protected]. WE ARE DOING ADOPTIONS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY WITH AN APPROVED APPLICATION. If a kitty has "ADOPTION PENDING" in their caption this means they have an approved application and appointment set up for adoption.

Ellie (F) Approx. DOB 5/1/24

Ellie is a sweet and social kitty who gets along with everyone! She came to us as a mama who had babies after she was left behind when her humans moved, Luckily a neighbor stepped in to make sure the little family was taken care of. Ellie was the best mama! She was a bit protective and swatty with other cats when her babies were little, but now that they’re all grown up, Ellie has transformed into the mother to all kittens! You can find her snuggling, bathing, playing, eating, or chilling with any little cat that is around. Ellie is still young herself and has energy to play. She also likes to find a quiet place to nap, but will wake up swiftly with an inquisitive meow if you happen upon her in her secret spot. She is gentle, sometimes chatty, and always ready to eat. Ellie would love to be adopted with one of her kitty friends or become best friends with one of yours. She is great with kids. She will be a best friend in her new forever home.

08/10/2025

🌟 Meet Lady — Our Little Fighter! 🌟

We’ve been keeping this sweetheart under wraps as we wanted to make sure she was thriving before her introduction. When Lady arrived with her mom and siblings the day she was born (4/30/25) it was discovered she came with a severe cleft palate. Lady’s journey began with a tough decision: try to save her or say goodbye too soon. Most kittens like her don’t make it… it's a long and difficult journey to raise a cleft kitten, especially as severe as hers, and most suggested we euthanize her....but we chose to fight for her. 💪🐾

💖 Thanks to:

👩‍⚕️ Our director who tube-fed her for her first 3 weeks
🏡 Her amazing foster Chrisse who has been tube feeding her from 3 weeks to now
🐱 Guidance from Kitten Lady whose experience with cleft palate kittens has been invaluable

…Lady is now 3 months old and thriving! 🎉

To help her eat more comfortably, she just had an Esophagostomy Tube placed at VCA Emergency Animal Hospital & Referral Center in Mission Valley who rushed her in since feeding via mouth tube became dangerous. While the e-tube placement went very well, she did have some unexpected complications. It turns out her stomach couldn't handle the same volume of food as before, resulting in her drooling more than some dogs do, so she was rushed back to VCA to be hospitalized as they worked around the clock for 2 days to figure out what happened and once they did, how to best feed her. We are immensely grateful to Dr. Hernandez and her wonderful team there who created a new food recipe that gets Lady a higher calorie content in a smaller dose to help her grow.

Next stop: life-changing cleft palate surgery at UC Davis when she turns 6 months! 🏥✨

But we need your help to get her there. 🙏

💸 E-tube placement & hospitalization:
$3,759.00
💸 Cleft palate Surgery estimate: $8,000.00

Every dollar brings Lady closer to a normal, happy life. She’s a total sweetheart and a true survivor. 💕

📢 Ways to donate:

✨Instagram fundraiser
✨Facebook fundraiser
✨Zelle: (email without hyphen) [email protected]
✨Venmo:
✨PayPal: http://tinyurl.com/supportecar
✨Mail check to:
ECAR
P.O Box 1754
El Cajon, CA 92022

💌 Can’t donate? Please share her story and send her love!