Tommy

There is no easy way to say this: Tommy’s story is horrific. Humans tortured him for hours, disfiguring him and forcing him to sleep with his eyes open. The terrible things that were done to Tommy left him battered and broken, with swelling to his brain, head trauma, and forced pressure on his corneas, making them bulge as if this poor boy was in a constant state of fright. Evil humans violated Tommy so severely that he was paralyzed by the pain. When he came to us, he was barely moving, and his face was completely mangled. He couldn’t even close his eyes. Yup, that’s right. He couldn’t blink or close his eyes when he came to us. He literally had to sleep with them OPEN. This part is hard to repeat: doctors believe that Tommy was hit with a hammer. 

But we managed to get him to the safety of our shelter after much coaxing and corralling (who can blame him considering the fact that humans hurt him so badly? I’m sure it was hard right at first to trust us) finally, Tommy relaxed, knowing that we were going to do everything possible to save him. Knowing that he was in good hands. We made some urgent phone calls and got him an appointment with an eye specialist to figure out a plan. 

A solid five days after we got him to the hospital, Tommy was already starting to get better. He was touch and go there right at first, and we won’t lie to you—we were WORRIED. So, seeing him sort of perk up was a huge relief. We were diligently cleaning his eyes and the indent in his head, administering fluids, pain meds, and antibiotics, and he was warming up to people, which was a HUGE victory for this sweet boy who had been so brutally attacked, beaten, and wounded by mankind. A nurse managed to win his trust by expertly handling his care, and Tommy let her pet him. He was just learning the joys of pets. This was great because, right at first, he wanted NOTHING to do with us. Each interaction caused him visible distress. This completely broke our hearts because that was Tommy’s natural bodily response—fear. 

Every fiber of his being told him to get away from those humans. His heart told him that humans were hard-wired to do something bad to him. We knew this meant that, in addition to taking care of his physical wounds, we had our work cut out for us addressing his mental and emotional state, too. But we were so heartened that Tommy let the nurse pet him, and we knew that this would accelerate his healing journey tenfold. The power of love is really something else we cannot even quantify.

Two days after decompressing a bit, on October 17th, Tommy was examined by Dr. Fariz, a human ophthalmologist in Azerbaijan. Dr. Fariz found Tommy’s story on social media and generously offered his expertise. The good news was that Tommy could see, and his vision was expected to remain intact. The worry was that his eyes would ulcerate and that he would lose his vision if they stayed open much longer. Dr. Fariz prescribed ointments to expedite the healing process, as well as lubricants to keep the eyes moist and keep them from developing an infection. 

Later that month, after many specialist visits and examinations, it was determined that Tommy’s skull injury was too old to be repaired, and his eye injuries didn’t make him a candidate for reconstructive surgery. While this kind of news may at first read as disappointing, consider that doctors’ had Tommy’s best interest in mind, and after seeing vets from around the world, it was concluded that Tommy could live a healthy, happy, pain-free life without surgical intervention and that perhaps surgical intervention would actually be difficult for him to recover from considering his emotional state. Doctors took all of these factors into account when making the decision, even the fact that he still had months of recovery to go before he’d be ok to leave our care. 

Sure enough, by the third of November, Tommy had significantly improved. The cat we rescued then and the one in our care nearly a month later were almost two different cats. Looking back, we truly are SO impressed by this transformation. As the days began to get colder, he adored attention and cuddling in the staff’s laps. He was still at the hospital, of course, but he was getting better. Although Tommy’s eyes still looked bad, there had been significant progress. He was able to blink with his inner eyelids! With daily ointments and lubrication, he was doing as well as he could be given the situation. 

We really started to notice a difference in Tommy’s condition by the end of November. His appetite was growing, he was in a GREAT mood, his bloodwork had improved, and while he was still under constant supervision, he was slowly starting to gain some bodily independence. He was able to blink, and thanks to our consistent application of lubricants and medications, he seemed a lot more comfortable and less constricted.

Over a month later, on December 22nd, the doctors sat us down for some major news. They said that after months of dedicated care and major improvement milestones, Tommy was adoptable. We were stunned. Although his journey had been LONG, considering his HORRIFIC injuries, a couple of months seemed like a drop in the bucket. We couldn’t help but shed a boatload of tears. This precious boy, our precious angel! He came to us unable to close his eyes, with a giant gash on his head, swelling in his brain, and trauma all over. He was shaking. He didn’t trust a single soul. He was on the verge of death by all accounts—but not anymore. 

Now, he was getting ready to take a flight after the holidays to go to the US, where we would ensure this boy got with the right family, who would be able to take care of his every need, giving him ointments and eye drops daily, and the love he had been so cruelly denied for ages.

Then it happened. Five months after rescuing Tommy from the cold streets of Azerbaijan, after he was physically assaulted so brutally, as we had honestly never seen before, after months of dedicated care, specialists visiting from abroad, multiple rounds of tests, and multiple scares, after many animal lovers like you donated supplies and medical funds after CUDDLY sent us SO MANY donations and products and made sure Tommy was all taken care of, this sweet boy is finally ready. 

Tommy is getting adopted in Boston, Massachusetts! With your tremendous support, we HEALED Tommy and gave him this second chance at life. Thank you to all for donating and supporting this sweet one. This wonderful community went ABOVE AND BEYOND with a record-breaking $121,922 in donations and 4,534 life-saving supplies that went directly to Tommy. Whatever he didn’t need was used to help the other kitties and puppies at Good World Animal Rescue and Protection. He is here today. He LIVES today because of your kindness and compassion. 

Tommy’s incredible new human, Kelly, is SO excited to have this sweet boy to call her own. They make the perfect little unit. They are so wonderful for each other, and we knew the SECOND we read this woman’s adoption application that she was the one for Tommy. Thank you to everyone who donated, supported, and shared Tommy’s story. We seriously could not have done any of this without you.