Meet Dobby a 7 month old black kitten who was born with a rare genetic mutation causing a curled tail, under bite and four “ears”!
Purrfectly Imperfect
Dobby is being fostered by Stephanie Brown a board member of Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue in Alabama. Stephanie has lots of experience fostering cats with unique conditions. That includes her own kitty Phoebe who lives with cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), or also known as wobbly kitten syndrome. Stephanie first learned about Dobby through a Facebook post from his previous owner. They were looking to rehome him after months of unsuccessful attempts to help him adjust to the resident senior cat in the household. Brown has fostered over 100 cats and jumped at the chance to foster this lucky black cat!
He Can Ignore You Twice as Much!
Since posting his photo on Reddit, Dobby has captured thousands of hearts with his unique appearance. Some users found it hard to believe their eyes and questioned whether or not they were AI generated?!
Stephanie quickly put a stop to those rumors. Because she’s documented Dobby’s journey in his foster home with videos, including exploring, meeting Phoebe and getting used to harness training.
Dobby is in the first stage of harness training 🖤
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All Ears For Fundraising Ideas
Dobby’s condition is known as auricular polyotia which is a congenital anomaly that results in non-functional ear flaps sometimes appearing as four ears. Polyotia is rare and it’s especially rare that the extra tissue is as distinctive as Dobby’s “extra ears”. However, we have shared another four eared sweetheart in the past.
During a consultation with a dental specialist about Dobby’s severe overbite, she learned more about his “messy mouth”. She later gave People magazine all the dental details.
While Dobby’s extra ears and curled tail are part of his extremely rare genetic mutation, it’s his severe overbite that requires medical intervention. Brown explains that the issue is compounded by a narrow lower jaw, causing his bottom canine teeth to protrude into the roof of his mouth.
“They’re going to go in and shorten the length of his lower canines,” she explains. “They’re not going to remove them. They’re actually able to just shorten the length.”
The procedure will be outpatient, and he’ll return home the same day. Though a follow-up appointment may be needed before he’s medically cleared for adoption, Brown expects his recovery to be relatively quick. “In my experience, cats bounce back from surgeries remarkably quickly.”
Because Kitty Kat Haven & Rescue want to be sure all his medical issues are fully resolved, Dobby won’t be adoptable for a few more months and the rescue have asked prospective adopters to pause applications for meow. The surgery will cost around $3000 and if you like to help the rescue with the vet expenses, you can donate HERE.
Kindergarten Cat
If you thought Dobby was unique enough already, he also has another pawsome quality. He LOVES kids, showing particular affection towards Stephanie’s daughter. The interest in adopting this unique mini panther has been overwhelming. And there shouldn’t be any issue in finding the purrfect furever home for Dobby! We can’t wait to see who Dobby chooses as his furever family, we’re sure he’ll ignore them with all four “ears”.
Photo property of Cole and Marmalade
