A small, grey ball of light entered the world in October 2016, but something wasn’t quite right.
This 2-month-old kitten was born with only three legs, and was slated to be put down at the Philadelphia shelter where she was being held. Until a woman named Holly Dixon stepped in.
Dixon, a Philadelphia-based medical editor, first came across the grey bundle of joy on Facebook.
“I first saw Olive on the urgent cat list,” Dixon told The Dodo. “I help run the Philly Urgents Facebook page, and the shelter sends us the list of any ‘timestamped’ [at risk for euthanasia], or urgent cats, so we can help promote them to find rеscuеs, adơрters or fosters.”
According to Dixon, Olive, her mother, and littermates were located somewhere in Philadelphia and sent to Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia (ACCT Philly). Olive’s siblings, who were all healthy and free of life-thrеatening birth abnormalities, were quickly adơрted.
Dixon felt she had to move quickly to preserve this special needs kitten; according to Dixon, shelter personnel feared Olive had a diaphragmatic hernia, which might affect the cat’s capacity to breathe and cause other fatal difficulties.
“When I saw Olive’s name on the urgent list, the first thing I did was call The Philly Kitty Rescue,” she explained. “I’ve already dealt with them and am aware of their proclivity for rescuing special-needs cats and kittens. They agreed without hesitation that Olive may join the rеscuе as a foster child in my care.”
Along with Dixon, volunteers with Philly Kitty swooped in to savе Olive.
So, Dixon decided to take Olive under her wing. After countless visits to the vet, Dixon finally received a diagnosis properly explaining the poor cat’s condition. She was born with a congenital amputation of her left front leg, according to Dixon.
In short, she was born without her limb. Additionally, vets told Dixon that Olive was missing most of her sternum and her ribs hadn’t fused to the sternum section that remained.
Olive’s heart was critically susceptible due to an amputated left front limb and a missing sternum part; Dixon stated she could feel Olive’s beating with her finger.
Given Olive’s physical difficulties, one might expect her to be a fearful, frightened cat, but Dixon says she’s everything but. She said, “Olive is such a happy kitten.” “I can hear her purring in her cage as soon as I walk into the foster room.
She is not shy in the least and enjoys exploring new places and meeting new people. I’ve been fostering for over ten years and have yet to see a kitten with the same amount of stamina as her.”
Olive doesn’t know she’s different than other cats, of course. She just wants to play more than anything, said Dixon. “I do have resident cats and other foster cats, and Olive would love to be able to play with them more often. I have to monitor her when she is out of her cage to make sure she’s not in dangеr.”
Olive doesn’t know she’s different than other cats, of course. She just wants to play more than anything, said Dixon. “I do have resident cats and other foster cats, and Olive would love to be able to play with them more often. I have to monitor her when she is out of her cage to make sure she’s not in dangеr.”
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