A kitten who was hurt by a lawnmower when she was only five days old has decided that nothing about that day is going to slow her down.
ChopCredit: Orphan Kitten Project
Her name is Chop. She was five days old when the accident happened, an age when a kitten weighs almost nothing and has barely opened her eyes. The lawnmower took the outer flap of her left ear and the toes on her left hind paw.
The Orphan Kitten Project, a rescue based in Davis, California, took her in. The rescue specializes in kittens who arrive needing more than the usual amount of care, and Chop needed all of it. Volunteers cleaned and dressed the wounds, kept her warm, and fed her on the round-the-clock schedule newborn kittens require whether or not anyone has slept.
She was far too young to understand any of it. She grew anyway.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
Survival at that size is measured in grams. A kitten of five days has almost no reserve to draw on, so the wounds were checked daily and every gain in weight was treated as evidence that she was winning.
She won. The wounds closed, and by the time she was weaned, the rescue had a different kitten on its hands than the one it had taken in. "Against all odds, this tiny kitten fought her way through recovery and has grown into the happiest, sweetest little girl," the rescue shared with LoveMeow.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
Chop turned out to be relentless. She spends her days chasing toys across the floor, wrestling the other cats in the house, and purring through every cuddle she can arrange, and anyone meeting her now would have no way of knowing what her first week looked like.
The trouble surfaced later. Around two months old, she developed a painful limp in the injured leg.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
Damage from the accident had affected how the paw grew and how well it worked. The bigger she got, the more weight it had to carry, and walking became steadily more uncomfortable for her.
Her care team decided the leg should come off. It is the option that gives her the most comfortable life ahead of her, and the surgery is still in front of her. The prospect sounds worse than the reality.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
Kittens adapt to three legs quickly, and they run, climb, jump, and play much as they did before. Removing a limb that has become painful and stopped its full function usually gives a cat back more than it takes.
None of it has registered with Chop. "Chop doesn't let anything slow her down," the rescue shared. Her foster family has been by her side for all of it.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
For the overnight feedings and the vet visits and the slow accumulation of small victories, Chop's foster had remained by her side. Somewhere in there, the bond grew stronger.
They are now keeping her! The foster home became her permanent one without any announcement, which makes Chop an adoption story that resolved before anyone thought to call it one.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
Kittens like her are the reason the rescue exists. Volunteers there take in kittens who need surgery, long recoveries, or ongoing care, and the great majority go on to unremarkable lives once the hard part is behind them.
Chop's hard part is not quite finished. There is a surgery ahead of her and a recovery after that, and then a house she already knows. "She's resilient, full of love, and has a very bright future ahead of her," the rescue shared warmly.
Credit: Orphan Kitten Project
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