This Kitten With Twisted Legs Is A Little Warrior And Now She Has Found Her Forever Home

On January 16th, 2020, a grey kitten with a white belly and paws was brought into Mojo’s Hope, a rescue group for animals with special needs based in Anchorage, Alaska. The kitty, who was just around 9 -10 weeks old at that time, only weighed 1.7 pounds when she was turned over to the animal rehab center. They named the adorable cat Lady Purrl. But being underweight wasn’t the biggest issue of all. The main reason why the kitty was given to Mojo’s Hope was because of her twisted legs. The rescue organization who found her decided to turn her over to Mojo’s Hope so she could get the best suitable care for her special needs.

Shannon Basner, the founder of Mojo’s Hope, is also the mind behind Alaska’s KAAATs (Kitty Advocacy Awareness Adoption & Tails). The latter is an advocacy organization whose goal is to educate about cats, promote awareness and to increase adoptions of cats in the Alaskan community. When the grey cat with twisted legs was admitted into the animal rehab center, Basner immediately took her into their foster program. Unfortunately, the regular vet wasn’t available until the 28th. So, Basner had her intake exam with the local vet, in hopes that surgery could still straighten out the cat’s legs.

Meet Lady Purrl, The Kitten With Twisted Legs

However, the local vet did not proceed with the exam upon seeing the fragile condition of the cat. Basner had to speak with the vet the day after to convince the vet to push through with the exam. Like most animal rescue shelters, Mojo’s Hope has also included euthanasia as an option for animals that are so diminished that they are suffering. But in Lady Purrl’s case, she didn’t seem to have given up on life despite her disability. In fact, she seemed determined to fight.

The local vet decided to proceed with the exam. And with the x-ray result, they found a spinal trauma which caused the cat’s twisted legs. On top of that, the cat also had no control over her bowels and urination due to her spinal fracture. To make everything worse, she was also suffering from diarrhoea. Fortunately, she tested negative for feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus. So, to help her with her bowel problems, they decided to set up a pee-pad area that she could use instead of a litterbox.

Lady Purrl’s Twisted Legs Are Caused By A Congenital Spinal Fracture

Basner was aware that Lady Purrl’s twisted legs are beyond repair and that the cat will have a disability for the rest of her life. Taking all of this into consideration, she decided to take the kitten home so she could give the best care possible and monitor her progress as well. With Lady Purrl’s condition, strict supervision is always necessary. Hence, there’s a lot of conditions and restrictions that foster parents should consider if they decided to adopt the fragile feline. Since she fully understands the situation, Basner decided to adopt Lady Purrl herself.

Basner already owns a husky named Cinder and a paralyzed cat named HarPurr. When she introduced Lady Purrl to her family, the kitty immediately became friends with Cinder. Basner explained that Cinder wasn’t new to taking care of rescue cats. Besides, it was her who also took good care of HarPurrl before.

Lady Purrl Is Now Happily Living With Cinder the Husky and HarPurr the Paralyzed Kitty

Cinder Has Been Taking Care Of Her

With Cinder’s care and HarPurr’s companionship, Lady Purrl grew healthier and stronger by the day. Basner got the kitten on a high-fibre diet to help alleviate her bowel problems. Her diarrhoea eventually went away and her weight became normal. They got her spayed in May and she recovered quickly after the operation.

Despite not being able to walk and run like other cats, Lady Purrl didn’t let her health issues stop her from living a happy life. With supervision, Basner lets her enjoy life and do whatever she wants to do. She still allows her to climb, explore and play with her friends like a normal kitty would. On November 13th, the beautiful cat celebrated her 1st birthday. And Basner wishes to see Lady Purrl celebrate more birthdays for years to come.