There are approximately 50 million feral cats living in the United States. An antiquated law in Alaska prohibits effective trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs, and the result has been colonies of domestic feral cats occupying every corner of the state.
Mona Widger and the members of her family are amongst the devoted volunteers who care for some of Alaska’s neediest felines. Currently, their most inspiring resident is adorable, little Clefton.
Clefton’s mother Evie was brought to Alaska Kitten Foster in May of 2017. She was pregnant, scared and incredibly thin. “This wasn’t her first litter, but we promised her it would be her last,” Mona recalled.
Five days after entering Mona’s care, Evie gave birth to four, tiny kittens. Despite everything she had been through, all of her kittens were surprisingly plump. Little Clefton was the smallest— weighing only 98 grams— but still, he fell within the normal range.
“It was obvious immediately that Evie was a great mother,” Mona said. “She was very nurturing and all of the kittens appeared strong and healthy.”
The next day, Mona was puzzled to realize Clefton had lost 12 grams of weight within the first 24 hours. She had seen him latching on tightly and feeding often throughout the night. The weight loss just didn’t make sense.
Realizing Clefton may need some help, Mona decided to supplement him with formula. Whenever the little kitten would suck, however, “the formula bubbled out of his nose.” Mona opened his mouth to look for a problem, and that’s when she realized his palate had improperly formed.
“Congenital cleft… palate occurs during the embryonic state of development,” Cat World explains. During this time, the primary and/or secondary palate fail to fuse together, resulting in an opening or a “cleft”. In Clefton’s case, both the hard palate at the front of the mouth and the soft palate at the back had improperly formed, leaving the little kitty struggling to eat.
“My heart immediately sank,” Mona said. “I didn’t know much about cleft palates, but I knew it wasn’t good. Quick research and vet calls left his prognosis as pretty grim.”
“He liked to cuddle up to his mom so initially, that seemed like the most humane way to let him go, as the professionals said he would not make it.”
Mona, being told by the vets to give up, laid Clefton down beside his mother, hoping to make him as comfortable as possible before he passed. But then to everyone’s amazement, little Clefton defied every odd.
“Twelve hours later, he [Clefton] was still alive and fighting mad he couldn’t get his nipple to work! He was certainly trying to work it!”
“It was at this point I decided to tube feed him.”
With Mona’s help and tube-feeding, Clefton quickly grew big and strong. Still, however, Clefton couldn’t understand why wasn’t able to eat like the other cats— and the tube-feeding process was difficult for him and Mona, both.
“If he tries to eat what they are eating, he ends up blowing it out of his nose. That is a dramatic panic fest for both of us. It really isn’t worth the fun.”
In August of 2017, Clefton went for surgery to try and repair his malformed palate. Clefton’s hard palate correction was successful, but part of the soft palette correction broke down. Finally, after nearly 4 months of life, he was able to eat food for the first time. Unfortunately, though, he still had some problems.
Mona said, “Unfortunately, without a soft palate (the squishy part towards the back of the roof of your mouth), Clefton gets food stuck in his sinuses… and often has to have his sinuses cleared out with water.”
Throughout his entire life, eating has been an uncomfortable experience. Now, however, little Clefton will finally be able to eat his meals and chow down like the rest of us. He is so excited; all he’s ever wanted is to be a normal cat.
