Five month old kitten Elliott arrived into our care in early 2020.
Elliott was hit by a car and it was very unclear whether he would make it. His jaw was badly broken and his teeth were fragmented and completely out of place, with a putrid smell coming from this mouth.
If he did survive, we wondered whether he would ever have a good quality of life.
But as you know, Lort Smith never gives up on animals when there is still a chance.
Veterinary dental surgeon, Dr Tom Rampton, performed emergency jaw fracture repair surgery on little Elliott. Dr Tom could tell that this sweet young kitten had likely been in this condition for days. There was a putrid smell coming from his mouth and he was in hypovolemic shock. He knew he had to do everything he could to ease Elliott’s pain.
But something else concerned Dr Tom: Elliott was just a kitten, and the teeth that had been knocked out were his baby teeth. Dr Tom knew that once Elliott’s adult teeth came through, there would likely be issues with a misalignment of his jaw.
The decision was made to put Elliott in foster care until his adult teeth came through.
“It has been a longer journey than l anticipated. We had to wait and see what would happen with his teeth as they grew,” said Mandy, Elliott’s foster carer.
All up, Elliott spent two and a half months in our foster care program and had numerous surgeries amounting to approximately $7,500. But it was all worth it.
Today he is a happy and healthy young cat who is soon to be adopted. Lort Smith will also cover the cost of any future dental work Elliott requires, so we know he will always be pain-free.
But it’s only because of our supporters that we can make this commitment.
A generous donation to Lort Smith today, will go so far in helping us to continue to save the lives of animals like Elliott.
