Disabled cat gently meows for human mom
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Did you like your bath?
00:01 People who don't like cats love this cat.
00:03 (cat meows)
00:04 We are Stephanie and Wayne,
00:06 and this is Luke's story for GeoBeats.
00:08 In December of 2020, my husband's son, my stepson,
00:11 passed away from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
00:13 It was just a really tough time.
00:14 My second oldest daughter saw on Instagram
00:17 this tiny little kitten who had spina bifida
00:19 had been adopted and then returned.
00:21 (cat meows)
00:21 And just this thing that went off like a light bulb,
00:23 we thought we could do this.
00:24 Beautiful boy.
00:26 We could give the care to a kitten that nobody wanted.
00:29 (cat meows)
00:30 We brought him home and we just instantly fell in love.
00:33 He settled right in.
00:34 He not only settled right in,
00:36 he stole the hearts of all of our children.
00:38 (cat meows)
00:39 At night, he'll go to my wife or myself
00:41 and he'll snuggle with us before sleep.
00:44 The only big issue was the diapering experience.
00:47 He literally wore diapers that were about this big.
00:50 Somebody smuggled them out of the neonatal intensive care
00:52 unit at our local hospital.
00:54 They were meant for babies who were born at 20 weeks.
00:56 You can't even buy those in the store.
00:58 (cash register dings)
01:01 We just made sure the house was safe.
01:02 We blocked off our downstairs so he wouldn't fall.
01:05 We put the gates up.
01:06 We just grew with him and learned how to care for him.
01:08 Luke.
01:10 And this was a way to process the grief.
01:12 I feel like we were doing something really special
01:14 to honor my stepson.
01:15 We now have 14 disabled cats.
01:17 We've kind of become a self-appointed sanctuary, I guess.
01:20 We just feel a lot of joy that we're able to do this
01:22 for these animals.
01:23 - All of the cats are like into this toy.
01:25 - Luke loves being around people.
01:27 He's very affectionate.
01:28 He's also the boss.
01:29 He is the boss of this house.
01:31 - He holds scratches too.
01:33 - He's a Minskin cat.
01:34 He's full grown, about six pounds now.
01:36 He's almost three.
01:37 He's got this curly, thick fur and he just lays on me
01:39 and he makes biscuits and he rubs his mouth across my face
01:42 to mark me.
01:43 So special.
01:44 He scoots around.
01:48 He does not seem to be in any kind of discomfort
01:51 and the doctor didn't expect that he ever would.
01:54 (cat meows)
01:55 About six months ago, he surprised us.
01:57 He just decided that he could do stairs.
02:00 We would do absolutely anything for any of our cats.
02:03 - Vacations right now are on hold, for sure.
02:06 - I'm a college professor and I'm going back to teaching
02:08 in a few weeks and I'll have to get up at 5 a.m.
02:11 because I can't compromise the diapering
02:13 and all of that other stuff.
02:14 (cat meows)
02:15 But there's never ever been one time
02:18 in this two plus year journey that I've ever said,
02:19 "I wish we made different choices."
02:21 - Luke is an amazing cat.
02:23 He doesn't know he's disabled.
02:24 Like our other cats.
02:26 So they're authentic selves, you know,
02:28 and that's what we all try to be.
02:29 And so when I think about him, I think about, you know,
02:33 he just lives with his imperfections and goes on
02:38 and it helps me.
02:39 (cat meows)
02:42 (gentle music)
02:44 (music)