I have products for sale through Fish and ChipIns!

Meow! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wanted to let you all know that I now have products for sale through Fish and ChipIns!

Yep! You can buy coffee mugs, cards, T-shirts, and more with my picture on them to help raise funds for my surgery! And even better, through midnight on November 23, you can save big with Zazzle's Black Friday deal codes. Use code "BLACKFRISALE" to get the following deals...

--60% off wrapped canvases, posters, and poster prints
--50% off cards, postcards, invitations, photocards, and ornaments
--30% off mugs and calendars
--20% off t-shirts, messenger bags, tote bags, and laptop bags
--$10 off cases and sleeves
--15% off everything else!

www.zazzle.com/fishnchipins*

Thanks for shopping and supporting me!

Me with my bestie, Luna

 

Thank you every one for your well wishes!

Thank you every one for your well wishes for me and my mommy! Unfortunately my auction was plagued by a lot of problems and we had to shut it down much sooner than we intended. :( My mom is very upset about this. However, we are not giving up on raising enough money to fund my spring surgery at Tufts! I am getting close to my goal but I still have a ways to go. I really appreciate every one who has donated to my ChipIn and continues to support me and my mom!

Aren't I getting big? And don't I look intelligent? At least, that's what mom's friends say about me! I hope you are all having a great weekend! Purrs and head bumps for all of you!

Note from admin: update on Little Bear's auction

There has been a lot of turmoil surrounding Little Bear's auction; due to a nasty amount of cyber-bullying the public auction has been closed and the tab removed from this blog.

Allie is now running a closed private auction for Little Bear. If you wish to participate, please visit his Facebook page and speak to Allie directly. Thank you!

I won the Great American Photo Contest!

Great news everybody--I won the Great American Photo Contest and took home the grand prize of $1,000! Look how happy I am about it! This means I am $1,000 closer to my goal of $10,000 for surgery, so thank you very much to everyone who voted in that hard contest.

Open letter from admin

This is an open letter from the admin at The Little Bear Chronicles. This is my own opinion and not the opinion of Little Bear's owner.

Recently there has been a bit of a kerfuffle on Little Bear's auction page. A lot of mud-slinging and name calling has been going on, with some users insinuating that perhaps his owner is running a scam to raise money without having any intention of actually funding a surgery.

I know a lot has been said about this already on the Facebook page, but after reading some of the rather hateful comments and accusations going back and forth I had to offer my two cents.

Little Bear is not my cat. He belongs to a young lady named Allie, who adopted him from the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I stumbled on his Facebook page by chance and offered to help her network his cause through blogging and YouTube, since these are the skills I have to offer. Allie did not ask for my help nor has she ever asked me for money for Little Bear.

Everything has been going fairly smoothly until recently when the verbal warfare began in earnest. To everyone who is clamoring for vet records, I have two things to say: first, that you have every right to ask for transparency before donating, and second, that she has posted the proof you requested. Here it is below:

 

 

Here is a copy of Little Bear's x-rays:

 

 

I hope these will give people peace of mind and quiet down the negativity. Goodness knows there is enough of it already in the world.

I think the important fact that many are overlooking is that the surgery is not scheduled for the immediate moment because Little Bear needs six months to fully grow. I could have told anyone that from the start: one does not perform this sort of surgery on a baby animal, any more than a baby human. Obviously Tufts will not schedule a surgery for an underdeveloped kitten without full $$$ to cover the bill, that would be standard practice at any vet (much less an exclusive vet school).

It will take some time to raise the full $5,000 for his first surgery in the spring and another $5,000 for his second (hopeful) surgery in the fall. Money cannot be raised overnight and thus it is important to begin raising funds ahead of time. I think that all one can do when considering donating money, whether to an individual or a charity, is poke about for the facts and take the rest on faith. Goodness knows even with a well-established charity one is assuming on faith that the funds will be properly used. 

One user on Facebook posted this information, which he allegedly obtained from Allie's regular vet, Sagamore Medical Hospital.

We are in fact the veterinary office that saw Little Bear initially on 9/25/12. On that exam it was noted that both front limbs were deformed and xrays were recommended. On evaluation by the radiologist the following was noted :

"Radiographic Findings:

Antebrachium:

Findings: The radius has failed to develop on both sides. The left antebrachium carpal joint is dorsally luxated. The right is dorsally subluxated. Both carpi are flexed. Lateral/medial malalignment is difficult to discern from the available views. The humeral ulnar articulations appear relatively normal.

Conclusion Bilateral radial hemimelia. Secondary bilateral congenital carpal luxation/subluxation and flexural limb deformity."

The owner has since taken this cat to Tufts University for a consultation and the most recent report from them states the final diagnosis is Bilateral radial agenesis with ulnocarpal varus, and the best option for Little Bear at this point is to allow him to grow a bit more until his bones have reached full length. At that point, Tufts would re-examine and discuss surgery on his left forelimb. They recommend xrays of his heart at that time as well. In the meantime they recommend at home physical therapy twice daily for range of motion.

Thank you,
Sagamore Animal Hospital

As you can see from their letter, his diagnosis has been confirmed, he is indeed under the care of Tufts, and he will be returning to Tufts in the spring for a consultation regarding surgery on his left forelimb. I think far from proving that this is all a scam, it shows the truth of what we have all been told from the start: that Little Bear's regular vet referred him to a specialist to consult about surgery on his legs, and Little Bear will in fact be returning to the specialist in the spring of 2013 for a pre-surgical consult.

On the subject of the ChipIn: if you are not comfortable donating, you are not obligated. I have never once felt put upon by Allie to donate time or money to this cause. She has never asked me to donate to the ChipIn, bid in the auction, put up flyers, share his links, or otherwise help Little Bear's cause. I have helped her voluntarily because I love animals and I do what I can where I see what appears to be a legitimate need.

As for the person(s) who are saying that Allie's parents should be able to fund the surgery: unless I am mistaken, Allie is a grown woman of 18 or 19 years old. I thought, here in the independent U.S., we encouraged our young people to pursue their passions and stand on their own two feet. Don't we usually groan at young people who expect their parents to pay for things? Don't we grimace at people who "come from money" and therefore expect everything to be paid for?

If Allie can rescue a deformed and unwanted kitten--a burden by the standards of most humans--and be humble enough to ask for help to give him a healthy life, I don't think that's something to tear down. I don't see anyone tearing down the Girl Scouts selling cookies at the supermarket and telling them, "You come from money, have your parents finance that project." I don't see anyone tearing down the kids going on a missionary trip and saying, "Don't ask me to chip in and buy anything at your bake sale, your parents can pay for that overseas trip."

I do not support or donate to every cause I encounter. Time and experience have taught me to be wary of every request for help. I do not jump feet-first into a cause without prayer and consideration. However, I have also learned that you need to trust your instincts, and my instincts are that this need is legitimate and Allie is genuinely trying to help her kitten.

If it's all a scam then you can laugh at me later and say, "I told you so." I'm sure you'll feel quite self-righteous while doing so. But even then, I will be able to hold my head up knowing I did what I felt was the right thing to do, by trying to help someone (or some kitten) who can't repay me. In the end, it's the heart that matters, and my heart is in helping this kitten. You are not obligated to join me, but please do not resort to bullying instead. That is never the right thing to do.

Thanks for letting me vent about this issue. Now I will get back to posting cute pictures of Little Bear.

Little Bear's auction!

Hi everybody! My Mommy and her friends are putting together an auction to raise money for my surgery! This is a great way for you to check off some entries on your holiday shopping list and help me out at the same time!

All of the money raised from the auction will help fund my surgery at Tufts University this spring, when the vets will hopefully be able to perform surgery on my legs to help me walk normally. The surgery could end up costing upwards of $10,000, so it's very important for my Mom to raise the funds now to cover all of my medical costs!

If you're interested in viewing the items in the auction, or in donating an item for the auction, click the tab above that says "Little Bear's Auction". You will automatically be redirected to my Facebook auction event page, where you can see the items up for auction, place bids, or contact my Mom about donating a new item! The auction will run through December 31, 2012!

Check out this awesome graphic that my Mom's friend Rosa made to advertise my auction! You can copy and share it on Facebook with your friends to spread the word!

Magnets and calendars for sale!

Hi everybody! My Mommy and her friends are putting together some awesome calendars and refrigerator magnets to sell to raise money for my surgery!

This is the pattern they've picked out:

What do you guys think? So far the initial orders for the calendars and magnets alike have been completely filled! Meow! I'm very popular!

But if you guys are interested in ordering a calendar or magnet from the next batch, please head over to my Facebook page and talk to my Mom! The calendars will be sold for $12 apiece and the magnets will be sold for $7 apiece. This includes the shipping costs. All of the money will be used to fund my surgery!

Mom is also thinking of making some other items to sell to fund my care, like coffee mugs and bumper stickers, so be sure to let her know what you think of those ideas, too!