Update for Thomas

Update for Thomas

Greetings, friends of Thomas,

Fear not the “special update;” nothing dire has befallen our boy. He has hit a bit of a difficult patch, though, and we know that his faithful sponsors will want to know the latest news.

As you know, Thomas recently suffered a jaw fracture during a routine dental. This, in itself, isn’t particularly serious or unusual. However, it’s led to a whole sequence of unfortunate events for Thomas. (As Jonathan put it, Thomas probably shouldn’t buy a lottery ticket anytime soon.)

First, our veterinarian determined that Thomas needed to have a wire placed to stabilize his fractured jaw. That, in turn, led our usually food-loving boy to stop eating. We did our best to encourage him to eat, but things finally reached the point where Thomas needed nutrition and a feeding tube was necessary.

Our veterinarian placed an esophageal feeding tube in Thomas’ neck, and all seemed well. After a few days, though, an ugly abscess developed at the site of the tube. It’s likely that Thomas’ FIV, which leaves him immune-compromised, contributed to all of this.

So we treated the abscess, and Thomas is expected to make a full recovery. There’s still the matter of food, however. The wire stabilizing Thomas’ jaw seems to be making him so uncomfortable that he won’t eat, so we’ve sent him to a specialist to have a feeding tube inserted into his stomach.

We have every reason to believe that Thomas will do just fine and soon be back to his days of sunning himself in the solarium. This is surgery, though, so please keep our dear boy in your thoughts and prayers. We will let you know how he does.

Thank you for your kindness to Thomas.