Mickey the cat was surrendered to Chris Griffey Memorial Feline Foundation in Virgina, USA, as a kitten because he was paralyzed from the waist down.
After being assessed, Mickey was found to have Manx syndrome, meaning he was going to have some special needs.
And need an owner who was willing to accommodate him.
Luckily, he found the perfect home across the Canadian border.
As soon as his forever mom saw him on Instagram she “instantly fell in love”.
Born this way
Manx syndrome is “is an array of problems involving the function of the hind legs, urinary bladder, and colon of a tailless cat.”.
It is a spinal malformation which can effect cats in varying degrees but in it’s most severe forms results in a cats back legs being paralyzed.
Cats with a severe case are often incontinent and need to have their bladder expressed, and sometimes even their colon too.
Mickey does have what would be considered a severe case, but he certainly doesn’t act like it!
Mickey has never acted like there was anything wrong with him, he plays, climbs, and gets up to all kinds of mischief just like all other cats do.
Fortunately for him, he joined a full house and now has plenty of special cat and dog siblings to play with.
Special siblings
Just because it takes a little extra effort to take care of Mickey doesn’t mean he is a burden.
His forever mom already had a special needs cat, named Mira, when she adopted him and knew in her heart that the love they have to give is priceless.
“The love they show is incomparable to anything in the world.”.
Mickey’s mom
Mickey bonded with is older sister as soon as he saw her, and regularly throws himself on her for cuddles and grooming time.
They have slept together every night since he joined the family.
His sister is one of his few siblings that get to see his cuddly side though, otherwise he likes to show how fierce he can be!
One thing is for sure, his home is never boring now that he’s there.
Mickey shows how joyful cats with special needs can be.
Life just wouldn’t be the same without this sweet little energetic cat.
Thank goodness for people like Mickey’s mom for caring for the special cats of the world.