An adorable kitten that was found wandering and emaciated near a dumpster by a good Samaritan in Massachusetts has undergone surgery to have his small face fixed after his nose fell off.
The sweet kitten named Nigel was about six weeks old at the time he was found in July. He was taken to the MSPCA in Dorchester, but staff members were startled when his nose fell off a week after he arrived.
The young feline, who had to wait to have surgery to fix his face, has a growing number of fans on the Instagram account, @NoNoseNigel, that shelter staff created.Â
His amusing behavior is followed by more than 2,000 people and growing.
Adorable: Nigel, an adorable kitten that was found wandering and emaciated near a dumpster by a good Samaritan in Massachusetts, has undergone surgery to have his small face fixed after his nose fell off
The sweet kitten named Nigel was about six weeks old at the time he was found in July. He was taken to the MSPCA in Dorchester, but staff members were startled when his nose fell off a week after he arrived
The young feline, who had to wait to have surgery to fix his face, has a growing number of fans on the Instagram account, @NoNoseNigel, that shelter staff created. His amusing behavior is followed by more than 2,000 people and growing
Staff at the MSPCA said they thought he was suffering from an upper respiratory infection when he was first brought in.
‘His nose and much of his face seemed discolored but that appeared to be a standard infection for which we started him on pain medicine and antibiotics,’ adoption center manager Alyssa Krieger said in a July statement.
‘We were shocked to discover later just how seriously injured Nigel was.’
MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center head of surgery Mike Pavletic, who performed the feline’s reconstructive surgery on Thursday, said that it’s unclear what exactly cause his nose to fall off.
MSPCA-Angell spokesman Rob Halpin said: ‘He’s really quite amazing and SUCH a trooper’
MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center head of surgery Mike Pavletic, who performed the feline’s reconstructive surgery on Thursday, said that it’s unclear what exactly cause his nose to fall off. He said: ‘It likely got its upper nose caught in something like a can of tuna’
Pavletic said that he believes that Nigel suffered some kind of trauma rather than it being a congenital defect because he saw a similar injury on a cat that was brought from Iran back to New England.
‘It likely got its upper nose caught in something like a can of tuna,’ he said of that cat.
‘Sometimes people will leave the lid partially attached, so the unfortunate animal sticks her head in there scavenging for food and then they get trapped and when it comes out it tends to slice off part of the face.’
He said that whatever caused Nigel’s poor injury would have been ‘substantial.’
‘Unfortunately, this little stray cat got into something,’ Pavletic said.
The veterinarian said the sweet Nigel suffered most of the damage to his upper lip. The kitten’s lip from his right to left canine teeth is ‘essentially gone’, as part of the lower part of his nose is missing
‘It could have also been bitten in the face, sustained serious injury, gotten infected, and then a different part of the lip and part of the nose just became devitalized.’
The veterinarian said the sweet Nigel suffered most of the damage to his upper lip.
The kitten’s lip from his right to left canine teeth is ‘essentially gone’, as part of the lower part of his nose is missing, Boston.com reported.
‘The shelter reports that Nigel seems to barely notice his injury and is kitten like all other kittens: he’s cozy and affectionate when he wants to be and loves to hang out on shoulders or curl up on laps,’ Halpin said.
‘And, because he’s a kitten, he adores playtime: he can be found pouncing on toy mice at any time of day or night and he’d play for hours with string toys if his human pals are up to it.’
In terms of him eating food, his injury makes it very difficult for him to do so without spilling food or water from his mouth, Pavletic said.
In terms of him eating food, his injury makes it very difficult for him to do so without spilling food or water from his mouth, Pavletic said.
‘He seems to be otherwise a fairly healthy cat,’ the Pavletic said.
‘It’s got a personality to itself, and he is rather a little precocious and likes to play hard.
‘But that’s being a kitten, so I think with correction of this, the cat will resume a fairly normal life.’
The veterinarian said that due to this type of injury, he prefers to wait until the animal is at least five months old before performing surgery.
‘They’re larger, they’re more mature, they’re tissues are stronger, they can hold sutures more effectively than if you’re trying to do the surgery on a tiny kitten,’ Pavletic explained.
Luckily, Nigel will have a home once he recovers from surgery as more than 50 people have already inquired about adopting the adorable kitten. Anyone interested in adopting Nigel can contact [email protected]
Halpin said that while waiting for surgery, Nigel had been spending time in both foster homes and the shelter.
Luckily, Nigel will have a home once he recovers from surgery as more than 50 people have already inquired about adopting the adorable kitten.
‘He’d do well in any kind of home: kids or no kids,’ Halpin said.
‘He’ll probably get along just fine with cats and dogs owing to how young he is and how much socialization he’s already gotten in his foster home.’
