Zabi's Journey

Zabi was found left on the side of the road with the painted marks of bait used in animal fighting rinks. A clear indication for those betting on which color will survive longer.

He was malnourished and his face covered in chemical burns, someone had poured acid or hot oil onto his face and then discarded his defensless body onto the streets.

We did not want to believe that this was the only life the Zabrak would know, but we knew that his fate had likely been sealed by his abusers and that the kindest option for him may be euthanasia. So as we arrived at the ER prepared to give him a small ounce of grace and diginity to end this cruel life he had been dealt, we were shattered. 

We immediately got strong pain medication into his system and that's when things began to change course. The pain management kept him comfortable and he began to show us hope and a desire to fight. He stood up, he began eating, he began accepting love - and all of his labwork came back quite beautifully for ther state that he was in. There was possibly a light at the end of the tunnel.

And so we dove in full force and decided to fight alongside him. Over the next week and a half, he amazed us all with how quickly he was healing and just how incredibly he handled it all! His entire team was astounded and has been so full of hope this whole time. However, his wounds took a turn over the past 48 hours and all of his progress began to go downhill. We were facing the heartbreaking realty that euthanasia may be the kindest final step for sweet Zabi unless we could find a competent surgeon who felt surgical intervention could be successfully achieved. 

We sent out a hail mary plea high and low and, that evening, recieved a call from a specialist at UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Their burn unit had reviewed his case and believed he stood a significant, promising chance with intervention and asked that he be there by morning. Being a 7 hour drive away with no way to fly due to the other special needs kitties that have to accompany us on travel, we are racing out the door now to make it on time!

This is your army, Zabi. We are not giving up yet.