Sparkles the Survivor

Sparkles is our little ginger miracle - he was brought into our care back in mid-April by a concerned member of the public who found him huddled and frightened under the Harbour Bridge, beside some boat huts and between pylons. Sparkles was 8 weeks old, dirty, full of worms and covered in fleas, and worst of all, he had a horrific open wound from his bum and down along his tail (we’ll spare you the nasty pictures…). It was amazing he was still alive and managing for several days on his own with such a severe injury – infection was already setting in, so it was vital to get him urgently to the vet.

Sparkles had to fight very hard to heal, supported by antibiotics and the most amazing foster carer – he also had a terrible break in his tail, so it would need to be surgically removed once he was strong enough to survive the procedure.

Being an incredible little fighter, Sparkles healed beautifully, to the point you could hardly tell the ordeal he had been through. He was well enough to get the tail surgery, be desexed, microchipped, vaccinated, and was soon ready for adoption. 💛

Unfortunately, Sparkles’ story doesn’t end there - as he was just about to be adopted out to a lovely family, a little bump was noticed on his former injury site. Initially believed to be scarring tissue from the injury underneath, the lump turned out to be a very rare and high-risk perineal hernia.

Perineal hernias are most common in middle-aged and geriatric intact male dogs, and are rarely seen in cats. Not only Sparkles would have to undergo another dangerous surgery, but it was actually difficult to find a local vet with the expertise to carry out this risky procedure on such a small kitten.

Our whole team was very worried for Sparkles, and everyone rooted for his surgery to go well, which thankfully it did! Once the hernia was repaired, Sparkles needed several weeks of rest, to ensure full and permanent recovery.

Throughout his painful journey, Sparkles never lost his sweet spirit - he never fought against taking his medication, and even when he must have been in so much pain, all he wanted was to be held and loved.

We are so glad to report that our miracle boy Sparkles has now healed beautifully – he is ready to take on the world, and find the most loving furever family! 💛

If you have a few dollars to spare, please help us cover Sparkles’ expensive treatments - any funds left over will be used to provide important surgeries for other rescue kitties like him. We thank you wholeheartedly. 💛