Warning: The info and photos in this post may be disturbing to some readers.
Little Nigel was just 6-weeks-old when he was discovered alone and hungry by a dumpster in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. He was taken to the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center and diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. Like many sickly stray kittens, his eyes and nose were caked with gunk.
Soon after his arrival, Nigel’s foster mom was cleaning his face when his nose and upper lip simply fell off! It turns out the poor kitten had sustained some sort of serious facial injury before his rescue.
“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,” MSPCA adoption center manager Alyssa Krieger said in a statement. “We were shocked to discover later just how seriously injured Nigel was.”
Mike Pavletic, head of surgery at the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center, has a guess as to how Nigel was injured.
“It likely got its upper nose caught in something like a can of tuna,” he told Boston.com. “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.”
Despite his shocking appearance, shelter staff report that Nigel “seems to barely notice his injury and is a 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.”
Nigel was, however, finding it difficult to eat without an upper lip. To remedy this, Pavletic performed a long-awaited reconstructive surgery on the ginger kitten yesterday. He used a technique of his own design, sliding the remaining left and right parts of the lip forward to close the face.
He will remain at the shelter while he recovers and then be made available for adoption. Pavletic reports that Nigel is a very healthy kitten otherwise and should lead a perfectly normal life once healed.
“He’d do well in any kind of home: kids or no kids,” MSPCA-Angell spokesman Rob 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.”
Update:
According to Nigel’s Instagram page, he has been adopted and has a new partial nose. We are so happy to hear that he is safe and loved by his new family!
H/T to Boston.com
Featured Image via Instagram/NoNoseNigel