Adopt a Special Needs Pet

From time to time we have animals for adoption that have special conditions or circumstances that set them apart. These animals may have special needs we want adopters to understand before making the commitment to adopt. We will identify these animals with a specialheart symbol by their names on our list of animals for adoption. When you see the heart symbol by an animal's name, please click on the photo to learn more and consider opening your heart to these special need pets.



Sylvester is an example of a special needs pet because of the many physical problems that he has overcome. He arrived at the shelter in summer 2009, as one of a large group of kittens from a feral colony in Maryland. All of the kittens arrived at the shelter with symptoms of moderate to severe upper respiratory disease (URI). Sylvester had severe URI, an ulcer in his left eye, and infection in one ear. All of the kittens were examined by veterinarians from Caring Hands Animal Hospital just after their arrival, and prescribed antibiotics, anti-viral eye drops and nursing care. When they were considered stable enough they were transferred to foster homes.

Sylvester, however, would appear healthy, but then a week later would develop more respiratory problems. After weeks of treating Sylvester with traditional antibiotics in the shelter, we sent him to a foster home and consulted Dr. Andrea Tasi, a feline-only veterinarian who practices homeopathy. By March of 2010, Dr. Tasi suspected that Sylvester might have a benign inflammatory polyp causing his raspy, gurgling breathing. He was unresponsive to treatment with homeopathic remedies, so in April, we took Sylvester to Dr. David Saylor, medical director of VCA Gaithersburg, to confirm that the polyp was there, and to surgically remove it. Sure enough, there it was, a large polyp in his oropharyingeal ear area. Dr. Saylor removed the polyp, and Sylvester returned to his foster home.

The gurgling, raspy breathing immediately stopped after the surgery, but two other symptoms continued. The eye that originally had the ulcer is cloudy, but the ulcer has healed and all that is left is scarring that affects his vision like fog on one side of a pair of glasses. The other complication was a head tilt and circling, probably due to Sylvester's vestibular (balance) system. This head tilt has improved slowly, and it's possible that given time it will go away on its own. Neither of these issues causes Sylvester any pain nor do they affect his quality of life. He is affectionate and playful. To prevent him from being exposed to any possible new respiratory virus, we kept Sylvester in one of our administrative offices instead of in the cat room. He didn't have to wait long for a special person who to adopt him and give him a happy life after his very rocky beginning.