In 2007, a feral cat and her kittens took up residence on our deck. By late summer she had disappeared and left one kitten to fend for himself. Each time the back door was opened, he would scamper quickly from the cat bed we left out for him and would disappear under the deck. I noticed one day that, when he scampered out of the cat bed, he had to drag himself off the deck with his front claws, his back legs seemingly useless.

We continued to feed him, hoping to get him to trust us enough to let us near enough to capture him to later take to The Humane Society. We didn't think an animal with such an injury would make it out in the wild, especially with the approaching Midwest winter. A week or so later, I noticed he had regained some function of his back legs, and when he left the cat bed to eat, was able to walk, although his coordination was quite poor. His back end did not appear to be communicating with his front end. My mother affectionately referred to him as Wobblybutt.

After many attempts to get closer to him, he finally allowed my mother to briefly touch him. I began to gain his trust also, and finally had him inside exploring our kitchen. As I crouched on all fours, he would stand underneath me, rubbing on my arms, exploring in small increments only to quickly return under me for safety. Needless to say, he never made it to the Humane Society. The vet said his continued coordination issues are from a past cerebral injury, but he otherwise received a clean bill of health. He is now my loving, affectionate, adorable baby boy who seeks out loving whenever he can get it.

Jennifer
Omaha, NE