Found on a winter night, emerging from inside a car’s tire rim!
Little Yogi Bear needs help. We are fundraising for her, to pay for a surgery, routine vet care and to cover some supplies, like KMR and litter. We are accepting donations via Zelle (no fees) or Give Butter. All donations are tax-deductible.
Read Yogi Bear’s whole story, or jump to her medical notes by clicking here.
Nov 13.2025 – Yogi Bear seems to have found a pic-a-nic basket and grabbed a pickle!
Nov. 12.2025 The first 24 hours of Yogi’s new beginning
“Look for the helpers.” – Fred Rogers
Yogi Bear is so young, so tiny… but she heard human voices and cried out for help, then surprised her finders by climbing out from behind the rim of a tire. She knew what Fred’s mom taught him – to look for the helpers.
That didn’t make sense, at the time. Inside the tire, on the ground, isn’t the warmest choice!
Soon, scooped up, wrapped in a jacket, inside a warm car, held in a lap, touched by warm human hands and offered food that she ate happily… Yogi was safe.
Once inside, toasty warm and with a full belly, Yogi was ready for a nap. Sprawled on her back (a second clue that didn’t add up yet!), she was inspected as she snoozed.
Based on her size and the fact that her ears were up, her age was guessed to be about 4-5 weeks. She has minor scrapes to her face, but looked and behaved as if she was feeling fine.
But then she had to poop.
When Yogi was in a litterbox and attempted to squat… well, something was wrong. She couldn’t hold her weight up with her hind legs and needed assistance to finish her business.
And, suddenly, her choice to stay in a tire when the wheel well would have offered more protection made sense – she couldn’t climb up there. Her nap on her back may NOT have just been a sign of deep trust. She was probably unable to comfortably curl up.
A decision was made to keep her warm and await an appointment the next day. She got through the night just fine, ate and drank like a champ and accepted help when she needed to potty.
At this point, her gender was still unknown. She’s enjoying all the loving and warmth that she’s getting but a peek at her privates was just not to be had. What is known, at this time – Yogi is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL tiny black kitten!
Or IS she?? (Dateline voice)
Beautiful? YES! Tiny? My goodness, YES! Black? I dunno, bro… I’m pretty sure that’s a girl cuz I think I see very faint orange stripes across her back…
Yep – Yogi is a girl! The true surprise is that the vet has estimated this wee little ball to be EIGHT weeks old! So we’re looking to supplement her food with some KMR, to hopefully get her growing.
Back to that surgery we mentioned…
The question of what’s causing her to react in pain to having her left foot/leg touched and why she needs human assistance to support her tail end when she potties was answered, too. For the grand sum of $385, Yogi got her first poke and prod, a vaccination, some pyrantel… and a couple xrays. She has a fractured and dislocated femur. 😱
Yogi will need surgery to resolve this. The first estimate we’ve received is $1500-1800. We are seeking a second estimate and will update you about that and everything else related to Yogi Bear!
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