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Community Corner

The Charming Crooked Cat

Wally is just like other cats, only crooked.

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence beside a crooked stile,
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together in a little crooked house

So goes an old English nursery rhyme. The poem is thought to be a veiled tale of England’s politics but became a popular poem with children in the early Twentieth Century. Phrases from the poem have made it into modern pop culture from cowboy films to comic books.

Despite any history or symbolism, there is something in this child’s rhyme that is indeed fact.

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There really is such a thing as a crooked cat.

Wally the orange tabby is one. He’s a young feline who was a victim of the housing foreclosure crisis and was left behind when his owners abandoned their property.

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Concerned neighbors knew the family had cats and called when it became apparent after a month that the homeowners left and weren’t coming back.

Mickie Blair, who wears several hats at LifeLine including cat adoption counselor, went to find out what happened to the cats the family abandoned. Most were long gone or adopted by kind-hearted neighbors but she found several kittens sleeping in a drawer in the empty house.

Then she heard mewing from inside a closet. Looking through the closet she soon realized the cat cries were coming from behind a wall. She removed some sheet rock and discovered a young orange male tabby. He was very small and had a raging ear infection.

Once back at LifeLine for treatment, she dubbed him Wally, a nod to where she had found him.

The ear infection took special treatment and time to clear up. But it left Wally with a slight head tilt and a mild equilibrium imbalance. He’s now healthy and can do everything other cats do, with one exception. He can’t jump on furniture or climb on shelves or do the acrobatic exploring cats are known for.

The severity of an ear infection like Wally’s can leave a cat with a head tilted to one side and cause them to walk sideways or “crooked” to various degrees or even in circles until they learn to fix their stride. It’s caused by residual damage to the inner ear from the infection but doesn’t affect their brain activity or hearing.

Blair has previous experience with what she calls “crooked kitties."

“They compensate just fine,” she says. “They figure it out.”

Wally likes to play with other cats and cuddle with humans. He’s very calm and loves for people to pet and talk to him.

Rather than make him look odd, Wally’s crookedness actually seems to enhance his cuteness.

And he’s not the only “crooked kitty” in LifeLine’s Kitty Motel. 

“Oh yes, we have other leaning kitties,” says Blair, with fondness in her voice. “There’s Pisa, we don’t know why she leans, and there’s Eileen, who also had a bad ear infection when we rescued her but is healthy now.”

She added, “Leaning kitties are very cute. Crooked cats always have that interested look.”

If you would like to know more about fostering or adopting one of LifeLine’s “leaning cats” contact mblair@atlantapets.org.

The month of June is national “Adopt A Shelter Cat Month” and to celebrate the rescued cats like Wally and other residents of the Kitty Motel, LifeLine is waiving all cat adoption fees for the entire month.

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