Following in the pawprints of ‘No Ears Nora’, another earless feline is making people on TikTok swoon. Alex is a darling tabby cat living in Virginia with his mistress Grace Herndon.
His defining feature is that the puss surprisingly has no ears.
Grace, his owner, who works as a photographer, posted videos of the pet on social media and witnessed users falling in love with her earless cat.
Alex used to be a stray kitten wandering the streets, then, in 2010, the Herndon family spotted him exploring their neighborhood.
Since he wasn’t neutered, Grace’s aunt Terri, wanted him to undergo the procedure before releasing him.
But once he was let go, the tabby kept returning to the Herndon house. Apparently, Alex had decided to set up his quarters there.
Touched by the resilient kitten, the family adopted him even though they already had four cats and a dog.
How Alex became an earless cat
When he came into the household, the moggy had no serious health issues. Instead, he was a chipper feline, according to Need to know.
However, Alex caught an infection, and his ears began to smell, this pungent odor resulted in his family taking him to the vet.
His caretakers discovered that poor Alex had tumor-like growths in his ears, these lumps had closed one of his ear canals and the other ear entirely.
The specialists opted to remove the feline’s ears altogether since the infection would likely spread to his brain if left untreated. An infected brain may have resulted in permanent neurological damage or death.
Faced with hard choices, the family had to pick the better alternative and the Herndons agreed to the ear ablation. Grace told Jam Press:
“We were apprehensive because we wanted Alex to be okay, but there was no way to remove the infection because the growths blocked it. They were benign growths but were dangerous as they had gotten a bit out of control.”
The cat underwent two surgeries to have his ears removed in 2019, and while the family was concerned, he was soon back to his cheerful, lively self. Grace said:
“He’s always jumping around, a lot more than he used to, and he was a lot chunkier. I think because he’s so happy and more active now, that’s probably why he’s lost a lot of weight.”
A TikTok celebrity
A TikTok video of the cat, submitted by Grace, has gone viral. The footage has received over 2.2 million views and thousands of likes in a short period.
The camera films Alex standing in the center of a living room on the wooden floor. With his ball-shaped head, the feline looks adorable, and the comments started pouring in.
Grace is surprised about her cat’s fast-growing popularity but isn’t shocked that people have fallen in love with him. The young photographer said:
“So many people loved him and wanted to know what happened. I explained and have since grown a following because of it.”