Stop everything. An amazing cat just C-walked into our hearts. Corky was found abandoned and dragging himself along the pavement in Fargo, North Dakota. He was taken to an animal shelter to be put down, but Gail Ventzke and Carol Stefonek intervened. They run another shelter in town, the CATS Cradle no-kill shelter. They set out to find a treatment for his congenital deformity, called Bilateral Arthrogryposis, which made his back legs point backwards and criss-crossed.
Here’s another picture of what his legs looked like:
Mirror helpfully captioned that photo, “Don’t get it twisted” because they keep it classy.
A surgery to turn Corky’s legs back around does exist. It was pioneered by Dan Burchill of Castleton Veterinary Services. Ventzke and Stefonek appealed to Corky’s over 6000 Facebook fans to pitch in for the $2,500 surgery. They’ve raised over $13,000 so far.
Here are a couple videos of Corky clumsily scooting around the shelter prior to his surgery:
LET ME HUG THIS CAT AND CARRY HIM WHERE EVER HE WANTS TO GO.
GAAAAH SO CUTE.
On April 5th, Corky successfully underwent corrective surgery. For a bunch of pictures and videos of his recovery, continue to the next page.
Cutest physical therapy session ever? Cutest physical therapy session ever.
[Sources: Mirror, Arbroath, CATS Cradle Shelter, Corky on Facebook]