Zorro is the youngest of 5 cats, ranging in age from 2 years to 14 years old. He came to us under very rough circumstances- he was injured and paralyzed, with a nasty, persistent infection under the surface near his injury. We were originally taking care of him in his previous home, but he wasn't getting any better, so he came home with us. We didn't know what was wrong. We did almost everything we could- cleaning and dressing his wounds, therapy for his back legs, all of that. He would get better, then relapse, then get better, then relapse again. We finally got him in to one of the local vets, and got some devastating news. The vet thought he had an partial arterial clot in his aorta, in his lower abdomen, that was causing his symptoms. She didn't think he had much longer. We refused to believe it, and finally managed to get him in to see our regular vet, who disagreed. She thought Zorro had been either partially run over, or bitten by a dog and shaken. X-rays proved it. Zorro had broken a portion of his lower spine, not enough to completely paralyze his back legs, but enough to weaken them, and then, in his weakened state, caught an infection that was resistant to the antibiotic cream we'd used on him. One massive dose of antibiotics, and a steroid shot later, little boy was up and at it. He actually walks fairly normally, though his back legs wobble a lot some days, especially if he's tired or hurting. But Zorro has adapted. He can walk, and practically run. He can jump with his front paws, though not with his back paws, and he can climb using just his front paws. He is every bit as rambunctious as he was before his injury. It's been nearly six months since Zorro's original injury, and some days, you'd almost never guess he'd been injured, much less with a spinal injury. He is one of our miracle babies.

Abigail Hall
COLUMBIA, SC