Meet Link. He was not able to eat on his own and was much smaller than other kitties his age. His rescuers were determined to change that for this very special cat.
"Link is unable to swallow food on his own and can't pass anything larger than a grain of rice into his stomach. I syringe feed him upright 4 times day," said the foster mom via imgur.
"Link's condition is called Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA). He has an extra blood vessel constricting his esophagus which makes it impossible for him to pass anything but liquid through it."
This is Link. He's very special. He couldn't swallow food on his own but the rescuers were determined to help him to eat on his own like other cats.
Link's foster mom wrote: "This is how I hold Link while feeding him so gravity can help get his food down."
"He was emaciated and weak when we got him from not being able to eat."
He got bigger and happier at his foster home but was still about half the size of a normal kitten his age.
"Feed me now!" Because of his condition, Link was always hungry. It put him at high risk for starvation and aspiration pneumonia.
"It takes about 15 minutes to give him one feeding, and another 5-10 minutes of holding him up after to make sure all the food made it into his stomach."
They raised money to get him corrective surgery so he could eat on his own. This is Link getting ready for surgery at Oregon State University.
After the surgery, Link curled up for a nap.
Back to his foster home, Link snuggled with his foster mom during recovery.
2 months post surgery, Link could eat his pureed canned food out of a bowl. "Seeing improvement every day, and he is fat and happy!"
"Can I have another bowl please?"
Photos via imgur.