5/23/2018: ELVIS UPDATE! While Elvis is happy and his face is healing slowly but surely, we have a problem. We have used up all of his donations for his care! We are only 3 months into this process, and are easily looking at another 9 months of treatment. The tissue is healthy, but controlling the infection and getting the skin to close up is a long, long, long process. Our vet is constantly working to figure out the best way to get him healed up, with the number one goal being to sedate him as little as possible. While Elvis is used to the box, and walks inside and chills and waits for his little nap, we’re concerned about the effects of all the sedation, so this weekend we tried soaking the first bandage in sugar water, rather than applying a straight sugar pack to the wound. Elvis was such a good boy, and let us bandage him up without sedation!
As you can see, the wound is healing from the neck up, and we’ve even got a couple of stitches to hold in his neck so that his jugular vein is no longer exposed! (Yes, you read that right, his jugular vein was exposed. Think on that for a minute.)
This cat is truly a miracle, and is way less freaked out about his face than we are (trust us, we know it looks rough, but we would not continue if we didn’t think it was the best thing for him or if he were suffering). Please donate to our campaign to help us keep his treatments going! It’ll be a long road, but hopefully a year from now, we’ll be posting pictures of this handsome boy’s remodeled face! https://www.gofundme.com/help-us-save-elvis039-face
2/26/18: ELVIS UPDATE! Elvis is doing great. The vet feels that for him to get to being totally healed, that we can expect it to take up to a year. The good news is that she successfully treated a sweet rescue maine coon like Elvis who had her entire side open and after treatment had only the smallest scar (smaller than a dime) so we can hope and expect Elvis to get back to rock star handsome. Because this boy is a go getter and wants to run around the vet’s office and check things out, he hasn’t decided to be compliant with laying still for his bandage change/cleaning/sugar packs, so he gets a little happy gas before bandage changes.
I am not convinced that this was not his plan all along as I witnessed him run up to the vet, rub on her and purr as she put him in the little box to get happy gas. I swear this boy is smarter than the average human. Very slowly, but surely, the wound is healing thanks to the hard work of our vet, our volunteers, and of course, our donors. Here’s some pictures from his latest bandage change. Warning: it still looks pretty gnarly, although it’s definitely better. Note the loose stitches in the skin to encourage the skin to come together and grow in the right direction.
Elvis is still receiving cool laser treatments to help promote skin growth and wound healing. We’re also using sugar packs under his bandages. Yes, you heard correctly, plain old sugar is helping this boy heal. Sugar packs are an excellent technique to help heal open wounds – sugar is poured directly onto the wound, covered, then bandaged. The sugar draws excess moisture out of the wound and into the bandage, making it difficult for bacteria to grow and accelerating healing.
Elvis has come to terms with wearing his less than rock star sexy bandages on his head (we promised him some cool stickers to up his cool look).
It is going to be a long road but this boy is truly doing great and he is happy, purring, zipping around, meeting and greeting people and pets and being the rock star that he is. He is currently negotiating with the rescue to be the spokescat for the community cat spay/neuter/care days. He feels that he can work to help the other un-owned cats out there that need help too. His cost of care has gone up based on the length of time he will be with the vet but Elvis has totally won the vet, the staff, and everyone he meets over. He thanks you for saving his life and caring. Without you, he never would have had a chance. As the estimated length of his care has increased, so has his costs, so please consider making a donation to support his care here: https://www.gofundme.com/help-us-save-elvis039-face. Go #TeamElvis!
2/16/2018: ELVIS UPDATE! Our boy is healing great! Elvis is one step closer to leaving the (vet) building. His caretakers stopped by yesterday to visit this sweet guy and he was full of purrs, rolling around and pulling hands to him to get more belly rubs. This boy has a huge will to live and is an incredibly sweet boy. It is amazing with all he has been through and how many people have turned him away, that he just wants love and attention. If only we could all be as zen as this boy. Because everyone has been amazing and helped to cover his surgery, we have been able to add the cost of some continued cold laser therapy to help heal the wounds. They make a huge difference and his vet is giving a huge discount to keep them coming as she strongly believes in their therapeutic value to getting this guy back to gorgeous and healed. More photos and updates on the wound to follow this weekend and an interview with the handsome Elvis boy. Thank you for being part of #TeamElvis and believing that this boy deserves love and care and a chance to be a happy, healthy and healed boy!!!!! We could not do this without you!
Everyone, meet Elvis.
This cat is truly a miracle. And I mean that in the most literal sense of the word.
Several years ago someone left this gorgeous maine coon boy to try and survive on his own. Some kind folks in the neighborhood started feeding him and trying to earn his trust, but 2 years ago Elvis sustained a wound on his face from a cat fight. That wound turned into an abcess and burst. The kind folks feeding him sought help but no one would help them – offering only vague estimates of $1000 to fix him, or to euthanize him. Eventually, his people found us, and he came in for a community cat spay day this weekend. As soon as we met him, Elvis rubbed his face from one side to the other on the volunteer’s hand and he purred. (Also, for those wondering – yes, we were more than a little wigged out when he rubbed his gaping wound on our hands!) He was not acting painful or scared despite the fact that half of his face and his eye was one huge open wound. WARNING: Pictures are not for the faint of heart.
When his abcess burst, it left a huge gaping wound covering the left side of his face and neck. Was he worried about it meeting a stranger and experiencing the smells of a vet’s office? Not at all. He just wanted love. And that is the huge forgiving soul of a cat that we cannot say no to and know that you could not either. So, what did we do? We stitched him up.
Elvis was neutered Sunday and had his first surgery, the wound cleaned and bandaged, the first of many cold laser treatments and first of many sugar packs. And despite waking up missing some important boy parts and wearing a helmet of sorts holding his sugar pack and bandages on, he woke up purring and looking for food and love.
It will be many months of sugar packs, laser therapy and most likely more surgeries for this sweet boy. We could not give up on him. Could you? If you feel like we do about this sweet boy, who was abandoned by his original people, overlooked by those his feeding family asked for help from and left to live with this wound, then please help us make sure he has funding for all the care he truly deserves. We are honored to help this sweet boy and would love you to be part of the team getting him healthy, healed and safely inside a home. Join #TeamElvis and make a donation to help the sweetest rock star cat out there.
https://www.gofundme.com/help-us-save-elvis039-face
Day 2: Already doing better!
Calvin's Paws 