Clefton's Cleft Palate Surgery

Clefton is a bengal kitten who was born with a congenital cleft palate. This is an opening in the roof of his mouth, which provides a direct connection to his sinuses. This defect prevents him from being able to have anything by mouth, as it would very easily end up in his lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia. Initially, Clefton’s breeder had scheduled him to be put to sleep, but his foster mom (who is an RVT at the vet clinic) couldn’t bear not to give him a chance to know love, so even though it was assumed he wouldn’t survive long, she offered to care for him, and he was surrendered. Since then, Clefton has been fed through a tube, which is passed into his stomach at each feeding. This method, when done by an experienced care taker, works well in younger kittens, but with age (and teeth) comes increased risk. In the beginning, not much thought was put into potential surgery, as the likelihood of him making it past a few days old was low. Much to everyone’s surprise, Clefton not only proved his will to live in spite of the cleft, but at 10 weeks old, he spent a terrifying 13 days on oxygen in the ICU, and ultimately won the battle against aspiration pneumonia, the very thing we fear every day with him. Once he recovered from pneumonia and we knew he once again had a chance, we began the process of reaching out to veterinary hospitals, in search of a surgeon who was willing to take on his case. While his defect is severe, medical advancements in veterinary medicine have provided options for repair, which would fix the cleft and give him a normal life. This procedure, while seen somewhat commonly in dogs, is rarely performed in cats, and thereby, must be done by one of only a few experienced specialty surgeons in the country, generally found at veterinary teaching hospitals. We have gotten quotes from two of those hospitals, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, both of which were similar in price. The only chance Clefton has at longterm survival is to get this surgery done before he grows into an adult, or before he ends up with pneumonia again, which can happen anytime, even with something as minimal as his own saliva. He has been approved for a consultation with next-day surgery the second week of April, which really puts the pressure on for securing him funds to have this procedure done. This estimate is higher than expected, and while we plan to continue calling around, we also have to consider that time is a crucial factor, as the eruption of his adult teeth is just around the corner, and will very likely further complicate tube feeding. At this time, we have accepted the surgery date of 4/9, and assuming other options don’t present themselves, will need to raise $10k by that time. While we await the itemized estimate, we have begun the process of fundraising, as there is a lot to raise, and not much time to do it in. We know things like this take a village, so we are asking for help to save Clefton. No donation is too small, but if you’re unable to give right now, we’d truly appreciate you sharing his story. Some day, we hope Clefton’s case will end up in a textbook, helping to educate future generations about cleft palates in cats, as well as providing a success story on how to surgically repair them.