Smokey

This little fellow has had a hard start in life.

He was found on a rural road with his dead sibling late the 2nd week in Oct. He spent several days back and forth between a vet clinic and ER clinic and then the weekend at the U vet hospital. His benefactors turned him over to Pet Haven and he has been in foster care since then.

He was hit by a vehicle in the head and has neurological damage. He's actually doing very well, considering.

He is walking now, when he shakes his head he no longer falls over every time. It was thought that his jaw might be broken but that it should just be allowed to heal and dental work performed at a later date for any issues that arose. It may not be broken, he chews on the syringe when he is being fed and as swelling has gone down, the upper and lower jaw appear to be properly placed.

He uses the litterbox in his cage now - in the beginning he was too unsteady and weak.

At first he had trouble swallowing and food had to be put in very small amounts at the back of his tongue. He gets some food by syringe but is eating canned kitten food too now which still must be finger fed to him as he does not have the ability to pick it up and get it into his mouth on his own.

His right eye was more seriously injured and he has an ulcer on it and he is unable to 'blink'. Yesterday he had the eye lids almost sewn shut by the opthamologist after a thorough exam. This will keep his eye moist, protect it and allow us to get needed medication in it to help heal the ulcer.

Smokey has a long ways to go in his recovery but he has made much greater progress than we might have expected. Baby steps take time and each day has brought a new recovered ability.