Cash the Cat's Cleft Palate Surgery

Sometimes something seemingly random comes along in life, and it ends up being THE thing you need to add the purpose and meaning to your life at that moment in time. The moment in time that we’re all living through right now is the coronavirus pandemic. The “random” thing that happened to me was a very sick, stray cat showing up in my yard on the evening of April 17th. 

(the above is a photo of Cash the night she showed up at my place. She could barely stand on her own)

It was about 8pm and I was closing up my home in Vallejo, CA for the night. I heard one of my cats (Arlo, the slightly infamous orange tabby) hiss at something in the yard so I went outside to have a look around. Turns out he was hissing at a small, incredibly skinny, barely able to stand on her own, all black cat. She immediately walked up to me and meowed at me the best she could. I picked her up and she leaned her painfully thin body into my chest and started purring immediately. 

Her eyes were terribly crusted over, and she couldn’t breathe out of her nose. I brought her into my home and set up a bed for her in a room separate from my other cats in case she was sick with something contagious. I set her up with a bed, food and water and honestly did not think she would make it thought the night. The next day I called my vet and managed to get a same day appointment where she was diagnosed with a very severe upper respiratory infection (URI). The vet was very uncertain how old she was, because her health was so poor it was difficult to tell. She was also extremely dehydrated, her eyes so sunken in her head they couldn’t be seen. She only weighed 5.5 pounds.

(eventually she started to make small attempts to groom herself)

For the next two weeks I gave her her medicine and fed her a high calorie wet food by hand 5 to 6 times and day and once in the middle of the night. For at least the first week, every time I would enter her room to care for her I wasn’t sure if I’d find her breathing. But at a certain point I could tell the tide was starting to turn: she was gaining weight, she was starting to become more steady on her feet, she was attempting to groom herself. I was feeling hopeful, but I was concerned. Every time I fed her wet food she would snort food out her nose. A lot of it. Initially I thought it was just because of her URI compromising her breathing, but after a while I started to have a suspicion that there was something more serious going on. 

By this point I had named her. I liked the idea of Cash because it was a name after a musician, and she's an all black cat, so being named after Johnny and Roseanne Cash seemed appropriate. (And all of my other cats are named after musicians too.) 

But I digress, I contacted the first vet, who originally saw Cash the day after she showed up in my yard. She said it was possible that Cash had a cleft palate, but that she hadn’t seen one when she looked Cash over. A whole lot of internet research ensued on my part. Then, the next time I was taking care of Cash, I saw clear as day when she yawned really big, a split in the roof of her mouth. 

(watch to the end of the video to see her huge yawn!)

Discovering this, I reached out to a different local vet recommended to me by a local animal shelter I had called for advice. It’s amazing that Cash made it past kitten hood with a cleft palate. Most cleft palates are discovered in kittens and are corrected during kitten hood with surgery. Sometimes the kitten is even put to sleep. But somehow tough Cash made it all the way to adulthood. In a way, part of what saved Cash was not having the cleft palate diagnosed by the first vet. She was in such bad shape when she first showed up in my yard that it was suggested to me that maybe she should just be put to sleep. If her cleft palate had been discovered when she was in such terrible shape, I don’t know if anyone would have thought she could make it. 

And speaking of adulthood and surviving with her cleft palate, now that she’s feeling better and we can get a better read on her age, the best guess is around 7 years old. An amazing thing for a cat who loses half of her food out her nose every time she eats and is at risk for developing pneumonia that could kill her (from aspiration of her food and water).

Cash the Cat showed up at a time when I was sheltering in place at home, by myself. And while I do well on my own, it’s been a lonely experience. I don’t think that most of us ever think to ourselves that we want our lives turned upside down by needing to care for another living creature, but that is what happened to me and I am grateful beyond what words can express. Cash the cat has wiggled her tough, fierce, but loving self into my heart quite permanently. 

And now she needs surgery to correct her cleft palate. It will not be inexpensive, and there is a possibility of the need for follow up surgery (or surgeries) if the first one does not completely fix it. For that reason, it is difficult to know what the exact sum is that will be needed. In an attempt to be as transparent as I can, the amount I am asking for is to help with covering these costs:

1. her specialty prescription wet food ($300 so far)

2. her many vet appointments for bloodwork and to diagnose her cleft palate (all of these necessary appointments leading up to the actual surgery) ($1200 so far)

3. the surgery itself to correct the cleft (between $3000 and $5000)

Her surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday, May 26th. It’s essential she have the surgery as soon as possible. We of course had to wait until her upper respiratory infection cleared up and she gained some weight (both of which have happened!) But now it’s time to move forward. 

I am grateful from the bottom of my heart for any amount you may be able to give to Cash the Cat’s cause. I really do think she deserves a chance to live the rest of her life without this painful, difficult and life threatening problem. 

(lounging on her favorite beach towel)

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. If Cash had come to me during any other time I would most likely have been so busy with work I don’t know if I would have been able to dedicate the necessary time to take care of her. But given the current state of things, with covid-19 driving my business down 90% that also means I don’t have the funds for her medical expenses. I am reaching out to you, in hopes that you might also decide that this fierce little girl deserves a better chance for vibrant health. I just wish you could meet her and see what a sweetheart she is for yourself!