Spotlight: Jensen

Keeping on the theme of special pets, Joa’s Arc's friend, Debbie R, wrote up something about a "less than adoptable" kitty she currently has. Deb writes:

I have a kitten that was brought into a local animal hospital by a good samaritan. The kitten was underweight and had damage to the nerves in his shoulder (I'm not a medical person), but I think it was the plexis - he drags his front paw backward from the "wrist". His shoulder also drops down somewhat. Because of this, we thought the kitten was going to need the leg amputated.

Now in my care, this kitten is being seen by an orthopedic vet. Oh, and he has a name now too - Jensen.

At the most recent ortho visit 3 weeks ago, it was decided to work on stretching the leg muscle in Jensen's damaged leg because it seems Jensen is able to lift his leg from the shoulder somewhat now. So, we are now hoping to not amputate and have a brace made for the "wrist" so that Jensen does not get a wound from dragging.

He will be having a follow up appointment soon with the specialist again to see how he is progressing.

Jensen is absolutely an adorable, sweet little boy and gets along with other cats and dogs. He loves to sit on the end of the couch, watch tv and fall asleep... and his "disability"? It doesn't keep Jensen from running all over the place, torturing those in his path and when you sit down, he runs to jump in your lap. He spends his evening sitting with me and then running over to sit with my husband, then back to me again - he's a true people-cat.

Jensen isn't quite ready for adoption until his orthopedic issue is resolved. After that, he will be neutered, combo tested and of course be up to date on the appropriate vaccinations, worming, flea treatments.

If it weren’t for a truly compassionate vet, several vet techs (including my rescue friend, Chrissy), this little guy would not be here.

A great big thank you to Deb, Chrissy and everyone involved keeping Jensen alive, comfortable and healing.

Interested in possibly adopting Jensen when he's ready for a home? Contact us to get in touch with Deb.

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Please Help Us Help Daphne

Poor Daphne has not has an easy start to life. She's just a couple months old and look at the condition she's in!

This adorable little pup was brought into a local shelter with some extensive injuries. Although she looked like a normal, happy puppy, it was quite obvious something was wrong with her when she stumbled around when trying to be playful. Here's a video of how she was walking when we first got her: http://youtu.be/2KDjGMEFuuY

Daphne apparently had an old fracture in her front left leg, which recently was re-injured causing even more damage.

Further complicating poor Daphne's condition is the fact her front right foot also needs attention - there is some bad hyper-extension (soft tissue damage) going on either from the same trauma that hurt her other leg or from over-compensation when trying to not put weight on the other. Either way this poor girl has two legs that need to be medically looked at and treated ... and Joa’s Arc needs your help to do that.

Miss Daphne went to see an ortho surgeon the other night and it appears as if this lady lucked out - she might not need surgery!!

Although Daphne suffered some sort of abuse, her bones appear to be fairly lined up and she doesn't seem to be in any pain ... so instead of risking damaging her growth plates further with surgery & screws, Dr. Coudrai feels that basically a full upper body wrap should do the trick - taking pressure off the fractured upper leg bone on her left side while also bracing/supporting her right wrist.

Daphne's treatment plan requires sedation and wrapping once a week for at least the next 3 weeks to allow her legs to heal. Then, rehab to try to get some mobility back. It's not surgery, but this is not a cheap process either, so Joa’s Arc is asking for your generosity.

You can make a donation through one of the methods to the right (mailing a check to our PO Box or using our PayPal link) or using the widget above to donate through our ChipIn page (also available here: http://joasarcspecialneeds.chipin.com/daphne)

Please remember all donations are tax deductible now that we are a official 501c3.

Thank you from Daphne!

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Medical Update on Nennee's Eyes

Recently, Joa’s Arc and Nenne were lucky enough to meet up with Dr. Andras M. Komaromy from the Department of Clinical Studies at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine! After some conversation, lots of lights shined in Nennee’s eyes (she even got the dye put in her eyes that glows!) and not too many battle wounds from an upset Nennee, we got some answers on her eyes ... then Nennee tried to climb into Dr. Komaromy’s bag! Don't worry, Joa’s Arc got her back!

Here’s a general run down of what Joa’s Arc found out about Nennee’s eyes thanks to Dr. Komaromy. She was diagnosed with:

- Mild eyelid agenesis (both eyes). This is a congenital absence of all or part of the eyelid. Most commonly, the side part of the upper eyelid is thin or may be lacking with varying degrees of severity. This may result in an inability to close the eyelids (lagophthalmos), which is discussed later.

- Microphthalmia with secondary entropion (right eye). Microphthalmia (or microphthalmos) is a congenital deformation resulting in abnormally small eyes. Entropion is a medical condition in which the eyelid (usually the lower lid) folds inward to the eye. It is very uncomfortable, as the eyelashes rub against the cornea constantly.

- Persistent pupillary membranes, also known as PPMs (left eye). This is a condition of the eye involving remnants of a fetal membrane that remains as strands of tissue crossing the pupil. The pupillary membrane in mammals exists in the fetus as a source of blood supply for the lens, but it normally atrophies (waste aways) from the time of birth to the age of 4 - 8 weeks. PPM occurs when this atrophy is incomplete. It generally does not cause any symptoms aside from the strands connecting to the cornea or lens, but most commonly to other parts of the iris. Attachment to the cornea can cause small corneal opacities, while attachment to the lens can cause small cataracts.

- Cataracts (both eyes)

- Suspected anterior lens luxation (right eye). Lens luxation is a displacement of the lens from its normal position.

- Coloboma of the fundus (left eye). Coloboma (also part of the rare Cat eye syndrome) is a hole in one of the structures of the eye, such as the eyelid, iris, retina, choroid or optic disc. The hole is present from birth and can be caused when a gap called the choroid fissure between two structures in the eye, which is present early in development in the uterus, fails to close up completely before birth. The classical description in medical literature is of a key-hole shaped defect.


There are some big words in there that I tried to break down a bit. Hope this gives you a better idea on everything poor Nennee is going through – lots of eye defects! Dr. Komaromy told Joa’s Arc that if Nennee were a person, she’d be legally blind! Oh, and the “quick fix” of maybe just removing her damaged, irritating eye if necessary (instead of repeated surgeries to her eyelids) – also not possible. The one eye she is more blind in has her less irritating eyelid deformities and her other eyelid is more irritating, but she sees better out of that eye. Poor girl!

Thanks a million to Dr. Komaromy for being nice enough to come out, meet us and give Joa’s Arc some conclusive answers finally about Nennee. Your kindness and insight (no pun intended, Nen) are invaluable, Dr. Komaromy! Tweet This