Helping Strays get the Care, Treatment, and Forever Homes They Deserve

Taco

Taco was found in Narraweena after the big storms we had in April 2015 by a lovely couple who believed he may have been hit by a car as he was unable to walk. He was skin and bones and weighed in at 1.7kg. He was covered in fleas and as a result was extremely anaemic. He was so trusting and immediately bonded with the staff, as we are sure he knew they were there to help him. They performed blood tests and they came back fairly normal. Due to his inability to walk, it was assumed this was due to severe muscle wastage and we gave him time to put on weight. After 1 month he had doubled in weight but wasn't improving with his walking so it was decided to take xrays and send these to a specialist surgeon. He had a lesion on his spine (possible traumatic or congenital) and would need an MRI to see the severity and if an operation would be able to be performed. 

Thanks to funds supplied by Squinty’s Hope, Taco was taken in for the MRI which showed that he had a spinal injury which may or may not be successful with surgery but it was decided to give him a chance, and the specialist agreed to the surgery. The specialist warned us that this type or surgery was very risky but we decided that such a sweet boy needed us to give him every chance we could. 

There was a chance that he may become completely paralysed so we even looked into wheelchairs for him.  Taco had his spinal surgery, performed by specialist Dr Eugene Buffa and Dr Ross McGregor. Going into the surgery they said there was a very slim chance of success, but coming out they said it was the most successful spinal surgery of this kind they have ever done!

Taco is our little miracle – as he recovered from his surgery he started using the litter tray like a normal cat! He fought through so much; emaciation, anaemia, months of paralysis and he is still fighting. He will never be able to walk completely normally but as long as he can move about and get to the litter tray we will be more than happy. The wonderful vets and nurses that have helped Taco have been so moved by this little man and numerous tears have been shed, especially when he woke up from anaesthetic purring and head nudging.

It was love at first sight when Taco and vet nurse Beth first met.  After months of searching for the right family to adopt him it became obvious that the pair were inseparable and Taco kindly adopted Beth as his human.