It was 9pm on Monday. Our volunteer was about to wrap up her evening round of community cat feeding when she heard another feeder's cry for help. She ran over and saw a black scrawny cat in a terrible state. This was a new cat, none of the community feeders had seen him before.
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| What a sorry sight :-( |
The cat had only one eye and its face on one side seemed sunken. On closer look, our volunteer noticed that part of the jaw appeared to be gone. The cat was drooling excessively and was emaciated. The cat, now named Inky due to his black coat, had been crying out non-stop and seemed exhausted, always trying to lean on the feeders for support and comfort. Inky was hungry, but food bits and saliva flung all over his face when he attempted to eat because of his jaw. He was affectionate and it was easy to secure him and put into a carrier. We are grateful that Inky knew he needed help and trusted us to give it to him.
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| There was a huge possibility that he had not eaten for weeks because of his broken jaw |
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| At the vet |
Inky has been warded at our vet. The initial prognosis was bleak because his jaw looked really bad, and we could not do an invasive examination given his weak state. He has a mass under his mouth, and both his mouth and eye were infected. There was inflammation and his kidney function was poor based on an X-ray and blood-test. He had to be syringe-fed. On his first night, basic treatment was adopted just to try and stabilize him - pain meds, antibiotics for infection and fluids for kidneys.
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| Inky's feeder found him on our Facebook page and visited him at the vet |
After 8 hours, there were slight improvements. The nurses discovered Inky could swallow on his own, but food must be placed on his tongue as he could not pick up food on his own. He was also more comfortable, and allowed our vet to check his mouth more thoroughly. The good news is that the mandible jaw bone is still there, but had moved out of position. Nonetheless, we are still cautiously optimistic because he's an old cat with kidney failure.
Today he had a surgery to insert an esophagus feeding tube so that he can have more food and hence be able to absorb more nourishment and nutrients. This was done under anesthesia, and while he was on the table, the vet managed to X-ray his mouth and do a thorough examination. The vet has placed a wire on his jaw, to hold the jaw in place. This will remain for 6 to 8 weeks.
We are still trying to figure out what happened to Inky. Did he meet with a traffic accident? If that were true, imagine the pain and fear. Through some divine intervention perhaps, someone who knew Inky saw our post on FB and got in touch with us. C is a dog owner who lives around 800m from where Inky was found. We believe this was the same cat he had been feeding since Dec 2022 at his apartment carpark. The same one-eyed, black cat with the long, skinny tail and tipped ear. Inky was a healthy weight then. Despite being a one-eyed cat, he enjoyed his food and his jaw was perfectly fine. According to C, he disappeared about a month ago and he thought he had found a better home. C was shocked and distraught to find out what really happened to Inky. It pains us to think that Inky might not have been able to eat and has been in pain for possibly as long as a month. How sad, and what a survivor he is.
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| Poor Inky's broken jaw :-( and we feel pain even with a small mouth ulcer |
Inky has a microchip but is not registered with AVS. We are checking with SPCA if they have any records of his chip. We're hoping to find the person who chipped his so that we can know more about Inky and why his eye is gone.
All the volunteers and nurses who have met Inky say he is a very sweet cat. We are all amazed by his resilience and fighting spirit despite the pain he is going through. We hope that he can find a good home in his golden years.
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| Inky being tube fed and what an absolute darling he is <3 |
Inky's story is a sad one, but definitely not an uncommon one for a stray animal. Strays wander about, never knowing when their next meal will come, or what it feels like to live a life of comfort and safety. If they are lucky, they meet kind people who take it upon themselves to check in on them periodically and feed them. But ultimately, they are still left to fend for themselves against all the dangers of the urban jungle that they find themselves living in.
To date, sweet Inky’s vet bill is $5000. If you would like to help Inky with his vet bills, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg Thank you.
