This is Marco the Cat. You may have already heard of him – after all, he is a local celebrity. I met Marco a few days ago when I took my dog in to see our vet, Dr. Kyla Dillard but I had actually first heard about him on CTV News.
You see, poor Marco has some health issues. For starters, he should weigh no more than 9 lbs. He weighs 27 lbs. Dr. Dillard put that into human terms – if he were a person who should weigh around 135 lbs., he would actually be….are you ready for this?…..405 lbs.!!!!! Adds some clarity to just how serious Marco’s health issue is doesn’t it?
Marco’s life had a rough start. At about 5 weeks of age, he lost his foot to a weedwhacker accident and that has severely limited his mobility. This led to the weight gain and ultimately, that weight gain led to poor Marco losing the use of both rear legs. His poor tiny frame just couldn’t support all that weight! This left him, at age 7, with only two options. One was euthanasia. Dr. Dillard offered his owners an alternate solution. They have left him in her care so that she can help him lose weight. That’s step one. Step two is to provide him with a titanium paw to replace the one he lost in the accident so that he can regain his mobility.
My question was, why can’t he manage to move around even with a missing paw. I mean, I’ve seen animals who have lost legs and they’re still able to get around. The thing is that Marco can make his way to the litterbox, he can walk, he can even take a little jog around Dillard Animal Hospital now and then. But, by having to walk around on the stump where his paw used to be, his spine, pelvis, and hips have been thrown out of proper alignment and there is a concern that his leg bone could break right through the skin.
The super cool thing about the titanium paw? It’s not a prosthetic that gets put on and taken off again. Think more along the lines of a bionic paw. (I know I’m dating myself but remember the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman? – Marco could be called the $12,000 Cat!). This titanium paw will actually grow right into his bone and become a part of his body. How cool is that?
Marco needs to be able to run and play and live the rest of his life as a happy active cat! To that end, Dillard Animal Hospital has set up a fund through IndieGoGo. Even just $5 would help get him to his goal of the $12000 he needs to be able to get the paw.
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