Caffrey the Amazing Two-Legged Cat!

A heartwarming and amazing story I found on the AVMA Pet Health SmartBrief:

Caffrey, the amazing moggie who survives on two legs… and they’re both on the same side!

• Black Persian lost his left hind leg some ten years ago after being run over by a car aged three
• After £3,500 worth of operations, he battled on with his life
• The tragedy struck four months ago when he was forced to have his front left leg amputated
• Another £4,000 operation and the fearless feline is still bounding about despite having no left-side legs

By Paul Harris
PUBLISHED: 17:29 EST, 8 February 2013 | UPDATED: 04:17 EST, 9 February 2013

Climbing trees, chasing mice, showing off to the ladies . . . four legs were always handy for Caffrey the cat.

Then tragedy struck. When Caffrey was three, the handsome grey Persian was run over by a car and lost his left hind leg.

Oh well. Not to worry. He happily carried on with three, thanks to a £3,500 series of operations that stitched up the damage and made the best of his front left paw, which was also injured in the crash.

Strong-willed: Caffrey the black Persian cat who walks and leads a normal life – despite only having two legs, both on the same side

Still going strong: Caffrey has had a tough life, yet still continues to battle on through life

Fighter: Caffrey has defied all logic by managing to survive on just two legs

For the next ten years or so, he coped so well it was easy to forget his disability. But four months ago he developed a malignant growth on the repaired front leg.

His owner Sue Greaves, 58, couldn’t bear to have him put down or put him through the pain of chemotherapy with no guarantee of success.

So she pleaded Paul Harris reports ‘He doesn’t seem bothered at all’ for option three – amputating the leg, leaving him with only two, both on the right side.

When her vet sought opinions from four colleagues, all said it shouldn’t be done. They insisted he would be unable to walk and his life would not be worth living.

Caring: Caffrey with his best friend and neighbour Ashleigh Tyler

Pain: The unlucky moggie was forced to have his leg amputated recently, which left him with no limbs on one side

Well, Caffrey, take a bow. And a run around the garden.

And just for good measure, try a ballet-style pirouette.

Although he was expected to spend weeks recovering at home in Woking, Surrey, within days he had achieved near perfect balance – helped by next door neighbour Ashleigh Tyler, eight, who joined the campaign to nurse him back to health.

And less than two months after the £4,000 operation, he is skipping along like a cat on a hot tin roof.

‘Everyone who sees him is astonished at what he can do,’ Mrs Greaves said. ‘He doesn’t seem bothered at all by having only two legs.’