January

This once feral cat has a quite remarkable story. Samson was approximately one year old and had only been living indoors with his current family for a few weeks when tragedy struck. We can only speculate what exactly happened but he may have started rough housing with a dog and things rapidly escalated. His owners heard the commotion from another room and when they arrived on the scene Samson was suffering from severe head trauma. Upon arrival at the Wellington Veterinary Clinic he had visible face wounds, was open mouth breathing, and could not eat or drink. Radiographs confirmed the dog had broken Samson's mandible (jaw bone) in multiple places.

First, Samson was sedated so that his doctors could reset his jaw into place. Then, his doctors used an adhesive to fuse his canines together to keep it from moving around which would prevent the bones from ever healing properly. They were able to do it in such a way that he could not move his jaw but he was able to move his tongue freely in and out of his mouth. Last, a feeding tube was surgically placed. Their hope was that with enough supportive care his mandible would fuse back together in a way that after they separated his canines he would be able to live life as a normal cat. And it worked!

His recovery took two full months of supportive care which included eating meals through a feeding tube, receiving donated serum drops from our brave clinic cat Dutchess, various pain medications and a high calorie diet. On November 23rd, 2011 his doctors removed the splint that held his jaw in place and radiographs showed it was healing nicely. Then on December 2nd, 2011 exactly two months after the initial trauma Samson's feeding tube was removed and he became a free man.

Samson showed great bravery through the entire ordeal and became one of the most thankful patients a medical staff could ever ask for which is especially remarkable considering he had come from a background involving little human interaction. He is now back with his family and soaking up all of the love and affection that anyone is willing to give him.