Sakura was rescued from the streets on 12 June 2022 after suffering head trauma from an accident. It was very likely that she had a bad fall where she face planted. Due to the accident, she fractured her jaw down the middle and in the back, lost her ability to see on both eyes, had a severe cleft palate, infection in her mouth, extensive damage of her nasal turbinates, some teeth fracture, and was anaemic. 


She stayed in the ICU for around 2 weeks, where in the first couple of days, she showed signs of sepsis, ie low blood pressure and fever. She had on-and-off fever, was draining a lot from her mouth and nose due to trauma which led to an infection, and had diarrhea from her medications. We also had to put in an esophageal feeding tube as she could not eat on her own due to her fractured jaw and the cleft palate. 


During her stay at the hospital, Sakura proved to be very sweet, affectionate, and trusting. Her vet team also discovered her rather sassy personality. For example, she would be very expressive of her displeasure, ie tearing up the wee pads or crying out loud to get attention or wacking other warded cats in the head if they got too close to her. She was very vocal, loved her cuddles, and captured the hearts of her vet team.

Apart from stablising her vitals, there were also long-term considerations for Sakura's care needs. When her vision did not return 2 weeks after the accident, I was told to be prepared that she would be a blind cat for life. There was also the issues of her jaw fracture, which was located in an area that wasn't easily fixed, and was left to heal out of place - leading to malocclusion (upper and lower sets of teeth being out of alignment). This would require dental work in the future to extract her canines and molars which might obstruct each other or puncture her mouth. These would affect her ability to eat and close her mouth fully (which is important to prevent infections).



On 21 July, Sakura had a hernia repair surgery - it was likely that the accident or a previous mishap caused some of her tissues in her abdomen to be pushed out of place.



On 1 Aug, Sakura threw out her feeding tube and we decided to let her eat on her own and manage the rhinitis due to her cleft palate (food goes into her nose from her mouth).



On 26 Aug, after spending 70 days in the hospital, Sakura was discharged for home care.



On 7 Nov, Sakura had her first teeth extraction procedure where we had 3 teeth extracted. One of her top canines was puncturing her bottom gum and dislodging her bottom canine.



On 16 Jan, Sakura had another teeth extraction with a dental specialist where she had 8 teeth extracted to improve her malocclusion. It was a 4-hour long anesthetic procedure.



Today, Sakura is resting from her long dental procedure that went smoothly. She is back home with me, a little stressed and disoriented, and having some bladder discomfort (frequent peeing and blood) potentially due to a bladder inflammation caused by stress. 



Apart from that, Sakura has largely put behind her past trauma, she lives very comfortably indoors now. Her cleft palate has healed significantly (there is still a small hole) and she still requires daily nebulisation and nose drops to prevent nasal complications. While she is blind, she has no issues navigating. She is also extremely affectionate, sassy, and loves her cuddle time. 



In three weeks, she might need to have the sutures in her mouth removed. And in 3 months time, we would need to review whether she needs another extraction procedure to remove her remaining molars. I am fundraising to partially cover her past vet bills and future ones. Because of Sakura's head trauma and its extensive consequences, her vet bills were really high, coming up to about RM14,223.20, and this was more than I could manage alone. I was previously able to raise RM1068.56 and now I am humbly asking my community to help contribute further towards her funds.



Thank you so much for reading about Sakura's brave journey. 

To follow Sakura's journey or my other rescue work on Instagram: @_gentlehouse

Special thanks to Sakura's vet team who showered her with love and care, and literally brought her back to life and comfort during her toughest days. Also much gratitude to April, Ann, Eunice, Nezo, Pei, Audi, Kaima, and Reshpreet for contributing towards Sakura's bill back in August and September. I feel so indebted to the kindness and support of others, without which I wouldn't be able to help animals in need.