Disabled cat is seriously funny
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00:00 Her personality is very multifaceted.
00:02 There's a part of her that is absolutely fearless,
00:04 incredibly hilarious, and silly.
00:07 I don't think there's a day that goes by
00:09 that she doesn't make me laugh.
00:10 [screeches]
00:11 I'm Pei, and this is Elfie's story for GeoBeats.
00:14 She's just got this very regal look about her.
00:18 When we were out one day, a child came up to me
00:21 'cause he wanted to pet her, and so he was petting her,
00:24 and he said, "She feels like warm Play-Doh."
00:27 And ever since then, I'm like, "I think you're actually right.
00:31 She does feel like warm Play-Doh."
00:33 And she is very warm, by the way.
00:34 Hi, baby.
00:35 Sphinx's, their body temperature generally is a degree
00:38 to three degrees warmer than, on average, than other kitties.
00:42 She doesn't know that she's any different,
00:44 and I think that's such an inspiration.
00:46 [screeches]
00:48 [upbeat music]
00:50 A girl in my neighborhood who also works in rescue,
00:53 but she doesn't normally deal with younger kittens,
00:56 she reached out to me and sent me a video of her.
00:59 She was dragging her back legs.
01:01 She was sick.
01:02 Just the look on her face saying, "Help me, please."
01:05 It does sound like it was a backyard breeder situation.
01:08 I reached out to the founder of Baby Kitten Rescue,
01:10 who I foster for, and said, "Can we take her in?"
01:13 She immediately said, "Yes."
01:15 When she got here, it was really clear.
01:17 She had an incredibly severe upper respiratory infection.
01:21 When cats can't breathe, they can't smell,
01:24 and when they can't smell, they lose their appetite.
01:26 It was really clear she hadn't eaten in a while.
01:29 She was emaciated.
01:30 She was dragging her back legs.
01:32 So there was just a lot going on,
01:34 but she was a fighter, for sure.
01:37 [screeches]
01:39 We immediately put her in an incubator
01:41 with a nebulizer to help her breathe.
01:44 Many people helped me learn how to express her manually,
01:47 all the things I need to look for.
01:49 It was a crash course for me
01:51 to learn everything you need to do in helping her.
01:54 After the incubator, I set up a little playpen in my office.
01:57 She really wanted to be loved and snuggled and not be alone.
02:01 She's a little human-like at times.
02:03 It's been a long road.
02:05 She's a year old now, but I think for the better part
02:08 of the first 10 months that I've had her,
02:10 it's been a roller coaster.
02:12 But I can honestly say this is the first month
02:15 that she's been a lot more stable.
02:18 She loves to play fetch like crazy.
02:20 [sizzling]
02:22 She can play fetch for hours.
02:24 [sizzling]
02:26 She's pretty much fully clothed with the diaper.
02:29 Because she is a sphinx, running around without pants
02:32 causes rug burns on her legs,
02:34 so generally she does need protective wear
02:37 and a sweater because she gets cold.
02:39 [screeches]
02:41 She has no idea that she's any different from any other kitty.
02:46 Hey!
02:48 She can climb up the stairs on her own.
02:50 She can go down the stairs very quickly on her own as well.
02:54 She chases my other resident cats around.
02:56 She plays with them.
02:58 She holds her own when it's dinner time.
03:00 [sizzling]
03:03 I'd love for people to see that special needs kitties
03:06 have the ability to live long, full, loving lives.
03:10 Elfie is the longest foster that I've ever had
03:13 and one that has had the most needs.
03:16 Wherever she does end up, it would be an incredibly rigorous process
03:20 to make sure they were the right home for her.
03:22 I can't imagine her not here,
03:24 but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
03:26 [music]