Sweet Ivan is a darling black-and-white resident of our lobby. He has the leggy look of a teenage cat (he’s about six months old, as of April 2011), and is beautifully marked, right down to the perfect black spot on the end of his nose. Now, as you know, one of the many wonderful things about Tabby’s Place is that the cats live cage-free, but poor Ivan has been one of the rare exceptions – and unfortunately, with good cause.

Ivan arrived at Tabby’s Place when he was only about six weeks old, fresh from the streets of Brooklyn. Believe it or not, being a baby alone on the city streets wasn’t half of Ivan’s trouble – when he was first found, he was under attack from some adult cats. This little boy was seriously injured, with a broken pelvis and broken femoral head (the highest part of his thigh bone). He was starving, and he also arrived with a bad case of ringworm. We promptly supplied him with lots of tasty food to help fill out his little frame, but as for the rest, well, Ivan’s ringworm turned out to be a mixed blessing.

Ivan had a particularly intractable case of ringworm, which is a fungal infection that is highly contagious among cats. A necessary part of the treatment plan at Tabby’s Place is to keep any infected cat caged in isolation until they are clear. They also have to endure super smelly sulfur lime dips to kill off the fungus. Usually ringworm treatment lasts for a few weeks, but did I mention that Ivan had a particularly intractable case? It was three long months before Ivan finally cleared (during which time, we wondered if he wasn’t actually ringworm disguised as a kitten!) While Ivan did not like being kept by himself, and he certainly didn’t like being submerged in stinky yellow liquid twice weekly, we made him comfortable and gave him lots of love. The extended time Ivan needed to kick his ringworm had a side benefit – his fractured pelvis and leg had ample time to heal. In fact, by the time Ivan finally cleared, he was ready to run, and in short order he made many new friends – human and feline – in the lobby.

You might think that Ivan’s early life experiences would make for a standoffish kitty – after all, those other Brooklyn cats certainly weren’t very nice, and we humans kept him isolated and dipped him with frustrating frequency – but Ivan has such a sweet, open nature that he both forgives and forgets in the blink of an eye. He’s such a love-bug that it is impossible not to love him back! Even they lobby’s toughest cats were spotted sharing couch space with Ivan within days of his release, and Ivan was reveling in the freedom to roam, explore, and just be a kitten. Our sweet boy was clearly happy to be a part of the community and did his best to make up for lost time.

But then (as if Ivan hadn’t had enough obstacles to deal with along the way) we noticed that Ivan just didn’t move quite right. He’d stop short in the middle of playing and sit, clearly in some discomfort. Ivan’s long stint in a cage had kept another problem hidden away, and this one couldn’t be solved with stinky dips or isolation. Ivan, as it turns out, has bilateral luxating patellae. This means both of his kneecaps are constantly slipping in and out of joint, which causes considerable pain. The bone underneath his kneecaps doesn’t have a groove for the kneecaps to ride in, and the ligament that should hold his kneecaps in place is off to one side. On a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being “uncomfortable” and 3 being “debilitating,” Ivan ranked a 3 in both hind legs. Bilateral luxating patellas can be treated with surgery, and the severity of Ivan’s case called for intervention on both legs. This surgical procedure involves shaving a groove into the bone and repositioning the ligament; it is no walk in the park for the kitty involved, but it has a dramatic effect on his quality of life. Ivan has already undergone the procedure on his left leg, and, once that has healed sufficiently, he will have his right leg done as well.

The good news is that with surgery, Ivan should regain full mobility and be pain-free. The very bad, horrible, so-not-fair news is that Ivan, the sweet boy who wants nothing more than to run and play and cuddle, is once again on cage rest and will be again after surgery on his right leg. It is hard to accept the injustice of such a wonderful young cat having to spend so much of his kittenhood confined, and we are doing everything we can to speed his recovery and get him out of that darn cage. Ivan isn’t exactly happy about it either, and he’s very vocal in his objection, but he’s not even the tiniest bit bitter about it. He just wants to be free to make his own decisions about who to spend time with and what to do – and what teenager doesn’t? In the meantime, and in spite of all he’s endured, he is still one of the sweetest cats around, and when he’s done with cage rest for good, we’ve no doubt the first thing he will do is make the rounds with head-bonks and purrs for everyone.

Won’t you consider sponsoring dear Ivan? This wonderful little boy has an amazing resiliency and generosity of spirit, and with your help, Ivan can leave his days of cage rest permanently behind him.