Cat who lost her leg, tail and ears finds a forever home: 'She’s truly the strongest little kitty'

Meet Mochi, a cat that was originally bred in China and then brought to the United States. It was not easy for her as she suffered from Ischemic dermatopathy, which led to the deterioration of various parts of her body, including her ears, tail and right hind leg. But she survived and lives happily now with a couple who loves her to bits. When she arrived in the US, she first began to stay with a family in Boston, but due to her worsening condition, the family decided to send her to a special rescue home called MSPCA-Angell.

However, soon, she was again adopted by a couple who fell in love with her despite her condition. Greg and his fiancée Natalia, who live in Boston, Massachusetts, love animals. Mochi became their first pet together and they have accepted every part of her, including the physical challenges. Greg told Bored Panda that while Mochi was with the former family, she developed a "mystery illness" that led to advanced necrosis. When she was sent to the shelter home, one of her hind legs, both ears and tail had to be amputated as she had also developed ringworm.

“She ended up spending two months in the care of the doctors at the shelter, who amazingly nursed her back to health. She had to spend those two months quarantined by herself, but when she was back to full health, the shelter listed her for adoption. My amazing fiancée and animal lover named Natalia saw the listing and immediately fell in love with Mochi and applied for her,” shared Greg.

The next day, they both received news that they were chosen to adopt Mochi. “I was trying to play it cool and said we should meet Mochi first, but the following day when we visited her, we both immediately fell in love. That was on January 22, 2023, so she’s been with us now for just over two months!” Greg revealed. Talking about her current health, he said that she will be able to live a long and happy life, but “they need to be a bit cautious with her.”

"She cannot receive vaccines, for example, as they suspect her initial illness may have been caused by a reaction to a vaccine. Because she has three legs instead of four, we have to be careful about her weight. When we adopted her, she was just under 2.5 pounds, and now she is over 4 pounds! She has quite the appetite," he shared. "We also have to be careful around cleaning debris out of the very little part of her ears she still has." Otherwise, he said, “Mochi is perfectly healthy and full of energy. In fact, she just had her first veterinary appointment and she is perfectly healthy!”

He also spoke about her daily routine, which is very much like any other cat. He shared that her day-to-day is very relaxing as they do not want to stress her out. However, she is not allowed to go out of the house. Other than that, she sleeps with them on the bed or a small kitty bed that they have. “We usually spend some time playing with her in the morning after she’s eaten since she tends to have a lot of energy then. When she’s in the mood to play, she meows at us and tries to bait us into her game of hide and seek,” said Greg.

The couple loves to share Mochi’s story online because they believe it is inspiring and it is about a resilient kitty. “She is so incredibly strong and has already been through so much, including flying from China on a plane and spending two months in quarantine after getting sick and losing her limbs. However, she has never given up and is full of spunk and so happy. She’s truly the strongest little kitty I know and is still so sweet and affectionate despite her hardships and turbulence. We hope Mochi can put a smile on other people’s faces when they are having a hard day,” said Greg.