Carrie’s mobility was thought to be lost forever by the vets, but she is now walking again thanks to her foster mother’s massage therapy.
Kim Breckon, 41, found her and her brother concealed in brambles beneath a Cash & Carry branch when they were just three weeks old. The meme cat was in a vehicle accident and suffered a significant leg injury.
They were starting to get back on their feet, but Kim was devastated when she opened the kitchen door one day in March to find Carrie limp and unable to move.
She’d tripped and become paralyzed after falling from the fridge.
‘When I put her down, her front paw was completely dead, and she just flopped,’ Kim explained.
She took her to the vet right away, who warned she might have harmed her neck and spine and would not survive – or, if she did, she’d be unable to walk again.
Carrie’s prognosis was grim, but Kim, who lives near Brighouse in West Yorkshire, expressed hope after seeing her use the litter tray, indicating that her internal organs were functioning.
Unwilling to give up on precious Carrie, who had already survived against the odds, she then asked another vet for a second opinion, then took a fortnight off work to massage her muscles and spine.
Six weeks passed and the kitten was once again able to put weight on her paws.
Kim, who also volunteers for Harvey’s Army, an organization that aids in the reunification of lost and stolen animals, told how she was summoned to assist them after hearing meowing near the Cash & Carry.
‘Until we got through all the thorny brambles, we didn’t realize the mother had kittens,’ she explained.
‘At the end, there were these two kittens, both infected with cat flu, on the verge of death.’ Despite having a maggot-infested limb, their mother had continued to look after them admirably, but I didn’t think they’d make it.’
Amber, their mother, had to have her leg amputated, but she is currently in a foster family and doing well.
‘All of the kitties are doing incredibly well,’ Kim said. ‘Carrie has already used at least two of her nine lives — if not more!’
