Vets Reattach Cat's Face

| Print | By | December 15, 2008 4:00 PM

The art of Veterinary medicine and surgery keeps growing by leaps and bounds. I was blown away when I read about the highly unusual surgery performed by the veterinary staff at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston last week.

They were able to reattach a cat's face which was mutilated when Edgar, a four year old long hair feline may have crawled under the hood of the car to stay warm. Edgar had been missing for several days, from her home in Winthrop, Ma. When she turned up, her owner found her in her litter box with part of her face dangling from her head. After her owner recovered from the shock of seeing her beloved cat so seriously injured, she rushed her to Angell Animal Medical Center.

Amazingly, Dr. Michael Pavletic, one of the hospital's surgeons reported that Edgar was actually in better condition than she appeared. She had not lost a lot of blood, and in the one hour long surgery, he was able to reattach her facial skin with 35 stitches. Incredibly, there also was no permanent nerve damage. Dr. Pavletic's prognosis was excellent. With follow up care and medication, she will completely recover from her ordeal. Elizabeth Kendrick, the Veterinary surgical technician was also amazed at the response to the procedure. Edgar was purring, and "asking” to be petted shortly after her surgery. This was one lucky kitty, for sure.

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Edgar after her surgery

A professor of small animal clinical services at Texas A&M University, Bonnie Beaver, said that this type of injury is very rare as most cats are instantly killed by car fan belts. She added, "She may have problems later, but the cat was saying, 'I may have lost this life but, by golly, I have eight more."
To read more about Edgar's chilling accident, visit: http://www.theledger.com/article/20081210/NEWS/812100279?Title=Vet_Reattaches_Cat_s_Face

Since even the most indoor environment- acclimated cat may suddenly decide that the great outdoors is tempting and become an escape artist, putting them in danger for serious injury, enriching our homes to help prevent wanderlust is crucial. Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine has specifically created an Indoor Cat Initiative designed to enhance the lives of indoor cats. This initiative is devised to help owners learn more about how cats think, insight into their behavior, proper nutrition and to troubleshoot feline problems. Visit http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/indoorcat.htm for some excellent ideas about how to keep your indoor cat happy and fit.

Purrsonally, I think that keeping cats indoors is critical for their well being. However some folks still consider that this is a cruel practice, and that cats need to have access to the outside world.
What are your thoughts on this controversy? Leave a comment and share them with us.

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Comments (1)

Joan O'Brien December 18, 2008 7:46 AM

What I found fascinating is that just a day after this item was published, there was an annoucenemt of a very unique surgery in which a woman had an 80% face transplant to repair damage resulting from a dog bite attack.

These pioneering surgeries are quite promising now to heal injuries that were at one time considered to be impossible.

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