A kitten wears cute sock shirts to protect his chest and runs around like a champ.
A little grey kitten made his way to Community Cat Club, a cat rescue based in southern New Jersey, for a chance at a better life. “He came to us after being found on a military base all alone,” Sara Sharp, president and founder of Community Cat Club, told Love Meow.
Upon arrival at the rescue, they noticed his chest deformity. Despite that, the kitten named Leroy was a delight from day one, eating to his heart’s content and soaking up all the love from his caretaker.
“Leroy has some obvious defects. We are going to do everything we can to help him.”
They were able to diagnose the kitten with pectus excavatum, which is a congenital deformity of the chest wall. “As I suspected he does have pectus excavatum. This was confirmed via X-rays at our vet.”
In Leroy’s case, he would need surgery to correct it as his condition was severe.
For a few days, he wore a cast (that looked like a kitty-sized corset) to help his chest grow into the correct shape. On November 3rd, Leroy underwent surgery at Wissahickon Creek Vet Hospital, and it turned out to be life-saving.
“This surgery was very much needed and we had to do it with him weighing only one pound, because (the condition) was affecting his breathing and was pinning his heart to one side.”
“This boy is a fighter! He went through this pretty intense surgery at his weight. He is tiny but mighty.”
In no time, Leroy was up on his paws and ready to play, as if nothing had happened. This warrior kitty didn’t let anything slow him down from having fun.
“He now wears a little chest plate for six weeks to help his chest continue to grow normally. He goes to his vet every week for a checkup, so the vet can loosen it up as he grows,” Sara told Love Meow.
“He gets to wear his cute little sock shirts for this time to protect his chest plate.”
When he returned to the vet for a checkup, the pint-sized wonder exceeded everyone’s expectations with his progress.
“His respiratory rates are really good, and the vet, Dr. Yard, said ‘whatever we’re doing, keep doing it’.”
Leroy is a ray of sunshine to everyone he comes across, both human and furry kind. He’s befriended another foster kitten, Poppy, and now they do everything together.
“They are obsessed with each other, and are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next six weeks,” Sara told Love Meow.
“Leroy is seriously the sweetest little dude, you wouldn’t ever know something was wrong with him. From the time I took him in, he’s just wanted love.”
“He runs around and plays like nothing even happened. He loves his best friend, Poppy, a comfy bed and wet food.”
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