A couple of vets from Odessa, Ukraine, found a severely injured kitten on the side of a busy road—her recovery has melted hearts among social media users.
In a viral Instagram video shared in September under the username @vet.crew, the two veterinarians, Leonid and Valentina Stoyanov, explain that as soon as they saw the injured kitty struggled to survive, they knew they had to help.
“Saving one animal will not change the world but it will change the world for that one animal. Meet Jelly, our newest family member. We found her late at night on the road and immediately decided to help her,” the caption says.
At the hospital they discovered that Jelly had sustained multiple injuries all over her body, including a broken femur, a spinal injury, and a severe head injury that left her completely deaf.
“During this long treatment we fell completely in love with her and decided that our big family would have another nose,” they said.
While she will “never be like normal cats,” they have wowed to do everything in their power to make sure she has a full and happy life, at home with them and their pets.
Stoyanov told Newsweek that despite her severe injuries, and the state in which she was found, the kitty is a fighter, and she is doing well now under their care.
Abandoned kittens face all sorts of problems out on the road by themselves, and Jelly is lucky to have left the street life behind her.
While the outdoors can be an enriching for cats, unsupervised roaming greatly reduces their life expectancy compared with indoor cats.
Pet MD explains that outdoor cats are vulnerable to a range of hazards. Extreme temperatures can cause heatstroke or hypothermia. Wildlife, including larger predators and fights with other cats, can injure them or expose them to infections.
They’re also at risk of parasites, viruses, fungi, and bacteria from wild animals or feral cats. Traffic accidents are common and often fatal or severely injuring.
Cats can encounter toxic chemicals like fertilizers, rodent poisons, and other substances outdoors. Severe weather and natural disasters pose physical dangers as well, and roaming cats can become lost far from home, especially if untagged or unchipped.
If you want your kitty to enjoy the outdoor, do it in a supervised manner on a leash or in an enclosure, away from the dangers that could be shortening their life. You can read more about how to choose the best leash for your cat here.
The video quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 16.7 million views and 2.6 million likes on the platform.
One user, Sash_abeyrathne_, commented: “How many painful lonely nights [she] must’ve spent????”
Marvinsrooomm_ said: “I’m crying.”
Ryanlspring wrote: “These videos make me want to go find lost kitties on the side of the road and give them a better life.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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