Ophthalmologist for CHANCE the cat
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Meet "Chance" the cat!
A stray cat, shot 15 times with a BB gun, has been given another opportunity at life following a successful-but-risky emergency surgery at Nohl Ranch Animal Hospital in Orange.
The staffers gave the 8-month-old feline its new moniker: Chance.
On Monday, April 24, the clinic received a phone call from a worker at a construction site near Lincoln Avenue and Glassell Street who found the 10-pound, black-and-brown tabbythat arrived at the hospital with his head completely covered in blood.
“When we got him, his eyes were bloody and he had cuts all over the top of his head,” Dixon said on Thursday. “We assumed he had been hit by a car or attacked by a larger animal.”
X-rays showed that Chance had been shot 15 times with a BB gun, and that five pellets were lodged in his head. Dixon figured the cat was held or tied down to inflict so many wounds.
“Do we take the risk and try to remove the BB’s, or do we euthanize him?” Dixon recalled staffers mulling over. “It was risky using anesthesia, and the cat was in shock. But we wanted to give him a chance.”
During Monday’s 90-minute surgery, Dr. Mary Anne Tayamen removed one pellet from Chance’s lip, another from the nose, and one from each eye, Dixon said. A fifth pellet remains in the skull and is not accessible.
Chance, blinded after being shot 15 times with a BB gun last month, is slowly recovering from his other injuries, according to his caregiver.
“Chance is doing so well,” Dixon, office manager for Nohl Ranch Animal Hospital in Orange, said Wednesday, May 24. “He is definitely blind but you wouldn’t know by looking at him and how amazing his spirit is. He is fully recovered from surgery.”
Dixon is currently caring for Chance at her home in Costa Mesa while attempting to place him with in a permanent home.
“He loves his scratching poles and his two twin beds,” she said. “He loves to lay on the bed where the sun shines throughout the day and sunbathe and he is definitely an excellent eater.”
Chance will soon be examined by an ophthalmologist in the next two week for his blindness.
“We decided to set up an appointment with the specialist just to find out exactly what happened and if there is anything we can do for him."
Chance is definitely a fighter! We are very anxious and excited to see what the specialist says, in hopes we can fix his sight.
We are currently interviewing to find Chance the perfect home he so deserves!
Thank you everyone for your support! We cant express how gratefull we are and we know Chance is!
Nohl Ranch Animal Hospital
Staff and Doctors
Organizer
Cara Dixon
Organizer
Orange, CA
