Pet rescuer Rebecca Kornblum had lots of experience working with cats with physical disabilities, but when she met a paraplegic cat named “Danny,” she learned a whole new meaning to living with a disabled feline.

Danny came into Kornblum’s life in the fall of 2003, when a man in Fort Worth, Texas, found a tiny gray-and-white kitten in some bushes near his house. The kitten was painfully thin, weighing only 17 ounces, and was covered in leaves, dirt, fleas and ants. The man noticed that the cat was not able to move its hind legs.

He took the kitten to his neighbor, who in turn called her sister. Kornblum arrived at her sister’s house to find a kitten that looked “skinny, terrified and pathetic.” She could see that the little kitten’s hind legs were paralyzed. Kornblum picked up Danny and placed her against her chest so the kitten could feel her heart and breathing. As Kornblum drove Danny back to her Dallas home, the pint-sized cat fell asleep in her lap.

A Cat’s Best Friend
Kornblum cannot remember a time when she was not rescuing animals. She recalls as a young girl in New Jersey making nests out of old tires for the birds returning from their Southern migration and having her father place them in the trees around their house.

Over the years Kornblum has worked with numerous pet rescue organizations. She also is a veterinary technician at a spay/neuter clinic that performs surgeries for the rescue organization KittiCo Cat Rescue. The rescue group promotes the rescue, foster and adoption of homeless cats. Over the last four years KittiCo has spayed or neutered several thousand cats in the Dallas area, Kornblum says.

Although Kornblum is associated with KittiCo, she has always been an independent rescuer. At her home she owns several rescued cats and kittens and one dog. She is also fostering several cats and a dog. Kornblum enjoys the challenge of working with cats that face difficulties due to physical problems. The cats she owns were not likely to be adopted for various reasons: one cat has no teeth, another has a heart murmur, one had a prolapsed rectum and had to be hand-fed and sponge bathed before having surgery to repair the rectum, and two are infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Over the years she estimates that hundreds of cats have lived in her home as fosters. As an independent rescuer, she incurs the cost of veterinary treatment; KittiCo assists with costs for cats she fosters through the program.

Kornblum has no set timetable for adopting out her foster cats. “Each animal is special and important,” she says, “and I will take as long as possible to find the best home, not just the first one that pops up.” Kornblum gets to know potential adopters to make sure they are the type of people she would want as owners for her cats. Her hard work pays off, as she continuously receives pictures and updates from the cats’ new owners. She even manages to place cats that are not easily adoptable, such as “Helen,” a cat without eyes. Kornblum reports that Helen now enjoys chasing dogs around the house of her new home by listening to the jingle of their collar and tags.

A First Time for Everything
Through her experiences as an independent rescuer and a part of rescue groups, Kornblum has served many roles. She has provided emergency assistance, fostered numerous cats, and worked with potential adopters. Danny, however, was her first paraplegic cat.

Not knowing there were any treatment options for a paraplegic cat, Kornblum brought Danny to her veterinarian expecting her to be euthanized. After evaluating Danny, the veterinarian concluded that she probably was born paraplegic and urinary incontinent and was cared for by her feral mother until she was too big to carry, feed and groom. Kornblum and her veterinarian experimented with different types of therapy. None were effective. Danny “still felt nothing at all,” Kornblum says. “Her legs just continued to dangle.” She then took Danny to a veterinary neurologist, who concluded that nothing more could be done. At that point, says Kornblum, “It was a matter of me learning to live with Danny’s disability.”

During this time Kornblum also found Cats With Paralysis, an online support group. The 27 members trade suggestions and advice for their paraplegic cats and look to each other for information regarding their cat’s condition.

Adapting to a New Life
Kornblum has learned to adapt her home to fit the needs of Danny’s condition. She bought a low-platform bed that Danny can pull herself onto; additionally, she built a ramp to make it even easier for Danny to reach the bed. A special scratching post helps Danny to scratch herself in unreachable places like the top of her head. Kornblum decided in Danny’s case a wheelchair cart would limit her mobility and possibly set her up for injury since she likes to climb onto furniture. Even dragging her legs, Danny is “lightning fast.”

Today, Danny is healthy and happy. “She rules the roost,” Kornblum says. “She’s in charge.” Danny currently weighs 9 pounds, and Kornblum wonders how much she would weigh if there were any muscle and fat in her hind legs.

In the beginning, Kornblum didn’t realize Danny was incontinent. As a result, Danny had three bladder infections during the first few months since her bladder is not able to empty itself when needed. Kornblum tried using a litter box with a tray on top filled with holes that would keep Danny from dragging through the litter. That, however, still did not solve the problem of Danny not feeling when her bladder was full. Kornblum now manually expresses Danny’s bladder at certain times every day, which keeps the bladder infections at bay and eliminates any accidents. Besides having her bladder manually expressed, Danny does not require care different from other cats.

“She is so loving and so happy,” Kornblum says of Danny. “She mothers everything and is extremely affectionate.” She remarks how great Danny is with the other cats and how she loves to groom and play with the kittens.

Danny is “a gift,” Kornblum says. “It’s nice to have a reminder to enjoy life.” She views Danny as an inspiration for humans with disabilities and says she is “living proof that animals with physical disabilities can and do live wonderful lives.”