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Saving Lives One Cat at a Time

 

Emergency Help - Spooky

FuRR - Emergency Help - SpookyWe got a call a few weeks back asking for assistance for a kitty in Vilonia, AR.  Spooky was a neighborhood fella who had no permanent home but made his way from house to house being fed by various people.  One of the people who was feeding him found him injured, it looked like he was unable to eat.  She thought maybe he had a broken or severely injured jaw.  Thanks to our Medicat program we were able to get him into one of our great local vets within a few hours of Spooky being placed with us.

Spooky did indeed have a broken jaw, and required emergency surgery.  He had surgery the same day he was surrendered to us.  His lower jaw was split down the middle.  The vet had to wire the two pieces of jaw together.  Since he was new to our program, the vet also performed his neuter surgery, and he got all the necessary vaccinations.  He is currently at a FuRR foster home, where he will remain for his 8+ weeks of rehabilitation.

At first Spooky has to be caged.  He was able to eat only baby food, then wet cat food.  He initially buried his face in the food and got more on him than in him!  Every time he drank after eating, his water had to be changed because he washed off so much food from his face into the water.  Starting out with 5-6 jars of baby food meat a day, he slowly progressed to 2 tall cans of cat food.  He certainly does love to eat.  As Spooky relaxed inside with his foster family, he began to let them know when he was hungry with a very loud yowl.  He also rewards his foster family for their love and care with an amazingly loud purr. 

About 3 weeks into his recovery, his wired jaw had to be revised and stronger wire put into place.  Now about 5 weeks into his recovery, he able to freely roam around his foster house, out of his cage.  His vet said the he can safely attempt to eat dry food if he wants to.  He does try, but must scoop the food into his mouth.  When he lowers his head most of the food falls out before he can chew, so his foster family still maintains his canned cat food diet.  As he continues to heal we will just have to see how he does with dry food.  Unfortunately it is possible that he will never be able to eat hard food without difficulty.

We don't think it is likely that he will ever return to cruising the neighborhood looking for food.  He has developed a real love for being indoors and is sweet as he can be.  His story is still unfolding as he has another month or so of the wired jaw to endure.