Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Blog The Change: "Twisty cats"

Today we interrupt our weekly Toon Tuesdays to join forces with our fellow pet bloggers around the world as we work to help bring about positive change for pets.


For this Blog the Change post, we'd like to tell you a story.

Recently, our shelter, Wayside Waifs, rescued a 5 month old kitten found as a stray. That's not unusual - we do that quite often.

What is unusual is that this sweet little boy was born with an medical condition that ensured he would not last long on the streets.


Stiles is what is known as a "twisty cat". Sometimes called squittens or kangaroo cats, these kittens are born with front legs that have not developed normally.

In Stiles' case, he's missing one of the two bones in his forearms - the radius bone. And a few of the bones in his wrist are underdeveloped, too, causing his paws to permanently curve inward.

Our Monday Medical series is usually a written article, but this time, we made a video and saved it for Tuesday's Blog the Change. We interviewed Stiles' veterinarian at Wayside, so you could get firsthand information about this sweet little boy, straight from the source.

And yes, he's incredibly sweet, as you will see. In fact, one of our volunteers calls him a "special gives" cat, not a "special needs" cat, because he has so very much love to give.

She calls him that for another reason too:  because in caring for a kitty like Stiles, invariably you are touched and amazed by the big heart these animals have - and how utterly unaware they are that they are different in any way.

 Stiles is indeed a "special gives" kitten.




As much as Stiles wanted a forever home, all of us at Wayside were determined to match him very carefully with an adopter that understood his special needs and would give him the very best care.

Well, we're very happy to say Stiles got his New Year's wish!

A woman saw Stiles' video - and saw his news coverage on KCTV 5 - and called repeatedly to ask if he was out of foster yet. When she heard he was, she drove an hour and a half to come get him. And she plans to knit Stiles his very own leggings to protect those delicate wrists.

Don't you just love happy endings?

Since today is Blog The Change Day we wanted to highlight this very special type of cat.  Many shelters would have considered Stiles unadoptable and he would have probably been euthanized. And - horrifying thought - we heard during the course of getting to know Stiles that some people actually try to breed for this condition. To us that's cruel and inhumane - and there should be a law to forbid it.

We're so glad Stiles has a happy story to tell. And w wanted to shine a light on one incredible nonprofit organization that creates leggings for paralyzed and impaired pets like Stiles, to help make their lives more comfortable.

Please "like" Leggings For Life on facebook - and take a moment to share a word of thanks with them for their labor of love on behalf of disabled pets.




44 comments:

  1. We have never seen that condition before. We hope it all works out for Stiles. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. That's a great story. Stiles look s like a love. Those animals truly are "special gives" and just plain special. We live with visually impaired dogs and mommy says they are a joy (we cats are still sceptical).

    Leggings for Life is a great resource, good to know about them.

    Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrs.

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  3. Such a great story and it brought tears to my eyes. There are good people out there.

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    1. Yes there are, and we're so happy to know several of them!

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  4. That is wonderful, such a cutie too :) Love happy endings. xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  5. Yeah for Stiles and his new mom!! Our local rescue has a couple of kittens like this right now. It is sad that someone would breed for this. And after having our own "special" kitten here in foster for a while, we can assure people he never knew he was different. :) great post

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    1. We agree! Stiles surely didn't know or care - he just wanted some luvin'!

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  6. Stiles is gorgeous and so full of loving. It is despicable that some people would even think to try to deliberately breed kittens like that.

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    1. We agree too - and we hope that local governments shut down any who would dare do such a thing!

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  7. Good thing Stiles got a home cos TW fell head over heels in love with him. I think we've seen some of those kind of cats cos we subscribe to Tabby's Place YouTube channel. I actually thought that Amy had taken Stiles home with her. MOL!

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    1. Amy sure was loving on him wasn't she!! He was such a sweetie and we're so glad we had the chance to get to know him!

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  8. We're so happy Stiles is now with his forever family and that his Mom would knit him his own leggings!

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  9. What a beautiful kitty....we loved his story. Thank you so much for sharing this today. We'd never heard of this condition and couldn't agree more that breeding for this condition is cruel and inhumane.

    SO happy he's got a brand new forever home!
    xo, Glogirly & Katie

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    1. We are too! And the fact she was so eager - and knowledgeable - and patient - makes us that much happier.

      We woudl sure put the bitey on ANYone who dared breed for this. It's just WRONG.

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  10. this is one of those things that you would think common sense would take over and prevent people from doing it with out a law!

    Stiles' new momma made me smile with the idea of leggings. Bet she could make a little side business of that, because there are a lot of kitties and dogs with legs that don't work right for one reason or another that could benefit from leggings..

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    1. Connie, that's what Leggings For Life does. They're this fantastic 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded by a woman who has opened her home and heart to *two* twisty cats. You may know one of them - Willow has her own facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/prettywillow?fref=ts

      Perhaps Stiles' new mama will volunteer with this great group to help provide leggings for needy pups and kittens!

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  11. Some people breed FOR this condition??!! My stomach rolled when I read that. Wonderful post and the video really made me smile - so glad Stiles got a loving forever home. Plus LOVE Wayside Waifs! Many years ago we adopted our beloved Sherman from Wayside... he's been at the Rainbow Bridge for a long time now, but thanks to Wayside, we loved him on earth for 14 years. :-)

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    1. Oh we are so very glad to hear that Sherman found a wonderful loving forever home! We just visited your blog and see that you've opened your home to foster animals who need to be socialized. YOU are a hero!!

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  12. Oh my goodness, Stiles sure does make the heart smile!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. This is my first time learning about "twisty cats" - how sad to hear that some people actually breed for this condition. I'm so happy to hear that Stiles found a loving forever home - big kudos to Wayside Waifs for helping this wonderful little guy that many would have dismissed as unadoptable.

    Your post has really touched me and brought tears to my eyes. Stiles truly is a "special gives" cat - his happy ending gives us all just a little bit more hope.

    Thank you so much for sharing this with us today for Blog the Change.

    A.J.
    Team BtC4A

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words! And thanks for stopping by. Yes, Stiles is an amazingly sweet and giving kitty - he has one lucky mom now!

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  14. Yay Stiles! Way to not let your "special needs" take away from your sweet and loving personality! Congrats on finding your forever home :)

    -Grizzlebees and Dillinger-

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    1. Thanks guys! And thanks for stopping by! Purrs....

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  15. Some people actually breed for this? That is twisted.
    Leggings for Life sounds like a great organization. I just jumped over and "liked" them.
    Peggy Frezon
    Team BtC4A

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    1. Thanks so much Peggy for liking them on FB! And we agree. Only twisted sick people would do such a thing. We hope this BTC4A post helps raise awareness and maybe...just maybe...gets into the hands of someone who can stop it from happening.

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  16. Hey FaRaDaY, Hey Maxwell, Hey Allie, Jet here. Hi Miss Lisa.

    OMD, what an incredible tale with a joyous ending in Stiles' case. Breeding for this trait seems akin to binding feet... HORRIBLE and cruel. We would like to see those who find this trait attractive live in their paws for a day or two.

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    1. Jetty, as always, a GREAT idea. If there were only a way...

      And can you imagine someone being so cruel as to abandon him to fend for himself on the streets? If our shelter hadn't found him, I'm sure he would not have made it.

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  17. He is so adorable! Thank you for sharing his story, what a doll!

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  18. Thank you for sharing Stiles' story with all of us. He is adorable! And thank you to Wayside Waifs for taking such good care of this precious baby until he found the perfect forever home! We have had two kitties with the same condition at PAWS. Like Wayside Waifs, PAWS was extremely careful about finding just the right adopters. :)

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    1. Why are we not surprised? PAWS is a fantastic organization! Those kitties were so fortunate to have found their way into your care.

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  19. I had never heard of this type of a cat...thank you so much for the introduction and the detailed info. My hat goes off to those with a place in their hearts to help kitties in need!

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  20. I can tell by the video that Stiles is a totally awesome kitty, and his new human is so lucky to have him in her life!

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  21. We are beyond the moon happy that Stiles found his very special home. It warms our hearts to know the depth of love that many ppl have for special gives animals!

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  22. We just want to agree that breeding fer bad conditions like that is JUST PLAIN WRONG!

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  23. I have never heard or seen this condition before and am thrilled that Stiles has found a great home...I checked out Leggings for Life's page on FB and have offered to help crochet leggings for them ... Put my idle hands to some useful purpose :)

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  24. We love happy endings!!

    The Florida Furkids

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  25. What a great post! Wes did not know about this and wes never seen a cat with it. It is so wonderful there is peoples out there that sees the giving to and not the taking rom.
    Kisses
    Nellie

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  26. What a great story, and we love happy endings! We're so glad Stiles found a loving home so quickly.

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  27. Wow!! So happy that Stiles has a wonderful new home. I had never heard of this either and I truly hope that no one would breed a kitty to be this way :( Thanks for sharing!!

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  28. I had never heard of such a thing before, but so glad to know that there was a happy ending. What a special group to find and care for such a special needs baby. Thanks for posting!
    PoochieProject.com

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  29. I had to wait a day for Mom and I to stop crying about Stiles...so hard to watch the video, and to think someone would want to breed to achieve that heinous condition, they should be forced to drag their wrists on the ground forever too. And bless, bless the woman who took him home to love him forever. And we already 'liked' the FB page Pawsome post Maxwell, Faraday and Miss Allie, paw pats, Savannah

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  30. Twisty Cats just have their own way of being unique individuals - it's so heartwarming to know Stiles now has a forever home. Thank heavens for you and your organization! You've undoubtedly made a huge difference in the life of this little gem.

    Thank you for blogging the change for animals!
    Kim Thomas
    Team BtC4A

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  31. I love, love, love this post - and I'm so happy to hear Stiles found his forever home! Who's that woman in the video? She could have a future in show biz! ;-)

    Vicki Cook
    Team BTC4A

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  32. Oh, that warms my heart to know that Stiles has a mommy that will give him all the luvs he deserves. What a great story. Say, Mom wonders if there are any companies that are developing leg braces to assist anipals with that condition? Many hugs for Stiles, for your shelter, and for you for pawing (writing) this post!

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