One cold winter night approximately 17 years ago, a stray gray tabby cat crawled up onto the block of a truck engine to get warm. Not knowing the cat was there, the truck owner turned the motor over, which severely mauled the cat’s hind leg. The owner took pity on the poor animal and brought him to a local humane society, where the cat’s hind leg was amputated at the hip. ‘Bailey’ spent many months living in a cage while he recuperated.
Although he was a favorite of the humane society employees, Bailey was never adopted because most didn’t want a handicapped animal. The amputated stump seemed to frighten most people. Plus, Bailey didn’t adapt well to being caged and would yowl at the top of his lungs when transported to pet adoption events. After spending more than a year at the shelter with no serious lookers, the humane society decided to try listing Bailey on a relatively new website called Petfinders.com.
The rest is history. I spotted Bailey (renamed Hoppy) in 2000 and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Hoppy has the ability to run, climb, jump and do anything else a ‘normal’ cat can do. Of all the pets I’ve owned in my life, he is the most loving and devoted.
Big Lake, MN