"This is tough guy Chibita. He was adopted into a family of cats by a japanese lady after he was found wandering in the yard as a physically healthy kitten. When Chibita was young, he survived a severe accident by crawling back to his house despite having a burst diaphragm. His strong will to live made him survived through accident and he was a healthy cat again after a surgery.
A year after the accident, Chibita went out again for a stroll but this time Chibita did not go home. His owner, Nekokichij and her friends searched for days throughout the neighbourhoods, the woods, factory areas and all places. One week from the day Chibita went missing, he was found with the help of his brother, Maa-kun around their house’s storage place. Chibita was malnourished with two of his front paws covered in blood. It seems like Chibita’s front legs were snapped by a steel trap but made it back by himself. With necrosis occurred on both paws, Chibita’s owner was given the choice of euthanising Chibita or amputation for a whole set of front limbs. She decided to solely remove Chibita’s paws despite the risks and commitment in future. The reason behind her decision is because Chibita never show signs of giving up when he faces life threatening incident.
After the successful surgery, Chibita’s vet reminded her that Chibita’s bare front limbs cannot sustain weight for too long because his bones might puncture the flesh and skins. Chibita’s owner and her barber friend who never have any experience in making prosthetic limbs worked hard to make an ideal set of limbs for Chibita; they even modelled the prosthetic limbs based on Maa-kun and Momo (Chibita’s roommate) to understand more on cat’s structure and behaviour. The prosthetic limbs and supports were made from soft materials found in economical yen shops, dog’s shirt, and pants and socks for infants.
We knew that cat body is not comfortable in contacting foreign objects. Chibita seems to understand the whole situation and never complains about the fuss and the pain of living without front paws. He persevered throughout his journey of recovering and testing countless sets of limbs. Obviously his patience paid off. He is able to walk, jump and go to the toilet by himself; although he sits like a kangaroo from time to time.
Maa-kun were scared by Chibita’s boxing-glove-like prosthetic limbs, but after a few weeks of watching Chibita from a distance, Maa-kun accepts Chibita as who he is. Maa-kun also helps Chibita to clean Chibita’s unreachable places.”
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2087
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