September 06-13
For Iranian-American Yasie Saadat, visiting relatives wasn’t enough to do on a trip back to Tehran. She has also rescued an injured cat and brought the feline back to Massachusetts for tender care and, hopefully, to find a new home.
Yasie rescued Nafas, a one-year-old cat, last October after she found him curled up underneath a car on a busy street in Tehran.
“Nafas was filthy, his face and eyes were covered in an infectious mass and he was emaciated,” said a statement from the Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. “X-rays would later show he had been eating pebbles and sticks in a desperate bid to survive.”
A veterinarian in Iran was forced to amputate the cat’s nose and upper lip to remove the infected tissue. The operation left the cat permanently scarred with his nasal cavity fully exposed, which left the cat in pain. It also became increasingly difficult for Nafas to eat and breathe.
In January, Yasie brought the cat to Mike Pavletic, head of the Angell Animal Medical Center’s surgery department. Pavletic performed a three-hour surgery to reconstruct the cat’s face.
“Nafas was a particularly difficult case given how little tissue there was to work with,” he told the Boston Globe.
The cat has spent the past five months recovering and veterinarians say his condition has improved dramatically.
Yasie is now searching for a permanent home for Nafas, who has his own Facebook page.
“I’m grateful to Angell and to Dr. Pavletic for everything he has done to help Nafas to live as normal a life as possible,” said Yasie. “And I know Nafas is going to make one individual or family very happy once he’s adopted.”
Anyone who is interested in adopting Nafas can make an application by emailing adopt.nafas@gmail.com.
