Exodus is One Special Kitty.

A lady we had worked with in the past sent me an email about one of her outside kitties who she thought had “something wrong with his jaw.” I collected him to take in to Dr. Murphy at the Spay Neuter Clinic, intending to have him neutered and let Dr. Murphy look at his jaw. I had poor Exodus the night before and noticed that his one tooth hung out of his mouth, but I thought he just had a “snaggle tooth” that needed pulled. Imagine how awful I felt when the Spay Neuter Clinic called me and said the poor cat had a broken jaw that was seriously infected. He had also tested positive for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus).

While this raggedy kitty had lots of things working against him–his ear was all sliced up, he was missing fur all over his body, he had an engorged tick hanging off his earlobe–he had one major thing working in his favor: his personality. Exodus is the nicest cat you would ever want to meet.

I picked this lover boy up from the Spay Neuter Clinic and took him to Dr. Tom Klein at East Hilliard Veterinary Services. Dr. Tom is the feline dental guru. He is the vet who fixed our little Bean Bag’s jaw last year when it was broken in a trauma. 

Dr. Klein was not deterred by the fact that Exodus was FIV positive. He thought that he was too nice to kill and so he kept Exodus to work his healing magic. 

This cat had a ton of problems. Whatever broke his jaw came up from the underside of his jaw (sort of like getting hit with an upper cut), pushing a tooth up into his upper palate and fracturing the bone. Fragments of bone were embedded in his nasal cavity. To me, this sounds like a kick. Most animals do not grab under the jaw. They go for the back of the neck. I hope some human did not do this to this cat. It makes my stomach ache to even think of it. 

Exodus’ injuries were at least several weeks old. I cannot imagine going around in this much pain for weeks. His whole mouth was filled with infection. Yet, believe it or not, this boy is such a fighter that he was eating hard food and meowing even in this horrible condition. 

Just to give you an idea of what Dr. Klein had to repair, here is a list he gave me of all the problems Exodus was facing:

1. His palate was fractured into his nasal cavity–and this happened at least several weeks previousy.

2. His center of his lower jaw was fractured as well as a complete fracture of the middle part of his lower left jaw. Both areas had severe infection.

3. He was under anesthesia for 3 and 1/2 hours (yes, you read that right-3 and 1/2 hours!) and Dr. Klein removed his upper left canine tooth and his lower right one and the remaining teeth on his upper left due to fractures. 

4. Dr. Klein attempted to move over the palate defect and repair it.

5. Dr. Klein wired the lower jaw center fracture. 

6. The lower left jaw fracture was left after cleaning the site and suturing it. Dr. Klein could not repair the bone at this time due to infection.

7. Exodus was given a 14 day long acting antibiotic and pain medicine. He was bathed and neutered while under. Two ticks were removed and he was treated for tapeworms. 

Whew!! Can you imagine if this had happened to a human? Exodus came home with me after two days in the hospital and is eating soft food like a trooper. He is on NO pain medicine. He is on cage rest, however, because Dr. Klein wants him to stay fairly inactive while he is healing.

This cat is just so wonderful. He utterly loves people. I had a hard time taking photos of him because he kept flopping down and rolling around for me to love on him and give belly rubs. 

The lady who called me about Exodus is willing to take the boy back with her. But he would have to be an outside kitty as she has a very jealous inside cat. I asked her if we could work on finding him a home and she was very happy to think he might have a safe, inside only haven. So that is what we are doing now. 

Exodus will need more vet care in the near future. He goes back to see Dr. Klein on May 20 and will probably need his lower left jaw fixed at that time. Being FIV positive is not a death sentence and Exodus, who is only three years old, can live a long and healthy life. He just needs a home with dogs only, another positive kitty, or by himself. He would be happy to share his life with anyone who wants him.

The virus that produces FIV is usually only passed from one cat to another by fighting or mating. Since Exodus is now neutered, he won’t be doing any of those things any more and will have a hard time giving other cats the disease. 

I have to thank Dr. Klein for once again coming to our rescue. He also had a vet student help him with Exodus’ procedures and because of that used the surgery and repair work as a teaching tool, giving us a giant discount.

Dr. Klein’s final words in his summary report were: “Exodus is a great cat!”

I completely agree!

Now it is up to us–I am counting on all of you to help me–to get Exodus into a safe, loving home with a family that does not care that he may never win a “Best in Show” ribbon for his appearance! What Exodus lacks in looks, he makes up for in love.