Naijia Z. hoped to foster a pet over the summer months, specifically a cat, because she had always wanted one.
“I thought that by fostering, I’d learn if I would be a good caregiver,” says Naijia, a college student at NYU. “I let the ASPCA know I was a ‘newbie’ with cats and preferred one without behavior issues.”
The ASPCA suggested Sonic, a two-year-old male who was recovering from a leg injury and another wound.
“Sonic needed a place to recover, and he was affectionate and social,” says Naijia, who took Sonic home on July 16. “I thought he’d need more time to adapt to a new environment, but he acclimated to my place right away.”
A Painful Past
Sonic was found on June 3 in front of the ASPCA Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) in the Bronx, in a cardboard box.
Veterinarians examined him and discovered a severe strangulating wound on his scrotum, as well as a large wound on his right hind leg. They triaged and transported Sonic to the ASPCA Animal Recovery Center and Hospital in Manhattan for further care.
“Sonic’s injury on his right hind paw was a large degloving-type injury,” explains Dr. Aubrey Crowley, Medical Supervisor at the Animal Recovery Center. A degloving wound is one where the skin is completely torn away from the underlying muscle, leaving the tissues exposed.
“I’m sure Sonic’s injuries caused him severe pain,’ she adds. “The team at the CVC helped him significantly by giving him strong pain medication, and he was tolerant of being examined and handled when I saw him.”
Sonic was admitted to the Animal Hospital’s ICU so he could receive an intravenous continuous infusion of pain medication to keep him comfortable as he started to heal.
Surgical Solutions
The day after Sonic arrived, Dr. J’mai Gayle, Director of Surgery at the Animal Hospital, performed a partial scrotal ablation on Sonic to remove part of his scrotum and diseased tissue, which required neutering him as well.
In the meantime, medical teams managed Sonic’s hind limb treatment with thorough wound cleaning.
“There was some dirty adhesive bandage material stuck to his wound,” Dr. Crowley explains. “We sedated him, soaked the foot, and gently removed this material. Once the tissue was clean, we bandaged him but suspected he had lost too much skin for it to heal without further intervention.”
Dr. Crowley asked if a skin graft might work, and Dr. Gayle, performed surgery by harvesting a graft from Sonic’s right flank to cover the degloving injury.
“The graft saved his leg,” Dr. Gayle says. “Otherwise, we’d have had to amputate it. It was an old, chronic wound, and there was no hope of skin growing back. It healed well.”
“We don’t know the origin of Sonic’s injuries or the circumstances that led him to us, but I’m glad we were in a position to help,” she adds.
Before Sonic’s skin graft, left, and after.
Social and Sweet
Behaviorally, Sonic was sweet and social.
“If we tried to pet him, he’d immediately roll on his back for chest rubs while kneading the air with his paws,” says Dr. Crowley.
“He allowed all stroking and when picked up remained relaxed,” says Ayleen Cruz, Feline Behavior Specialist in the Animal Recovery Center. “He also rubbed against our hands.”
Sonic’s uniquely colored coat –– black with faint dark stripes and a white undercoat that makes it shimmer –– was a subject of interest.
“We looked up his coloring and it’s called black smoke and is very rare,” says Dr. Crowley. “We suspected he might be hiding some fancy cat breed DNA in him.”
‘A Very Meaningful Experience’
It wasn’t long before the Foster Care & Placement team notified Naijia that Sonic was going to be made available for adoption.
“I thought, ‘If I want to adopt him, I need to make a decision,’” says Naijia. Two days later, Naijia adopted Sonic. “I was sure I loved him.”
Sonic enjoys napping on pillows in a window nook of Naijia’s 10th-floor apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey. He also loves playing with his mouse toy and cat wand.
Naijia says her foster experience was relatively easy. Aside from feeding, enrichment and litter box maintenance, she made sure Sonic didn’t lick his wounds and checked them regularly to ensure they were healing well.
“For me, fostering was very meaningful,” Naijia says. “It’s a win for both the animals and the shelter. If you don’t have experience, it gives you that opportunity.”
She adds, “If you foster a cat you love, you can adopt, like I did.”
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