Harvey, a 4-month-old kitten in Scotland born without bones in his front legs, is happy and healthy. But while his rare genetic condition could lead to spinal problems and other health issues later in life, the preventive surgery is expensive.
Doctors, however, will now be able to go ahead and insert metal pins into Harvey’s legs thanks to a successful fundraising effort from cat lovers on Facebook.
STV News reports that Harvey suffers from radial agenesis. His former owner put Harvey up for adoption on a pet website, stating that the kitten suffered from broken bones. When he was taken in by Scotland’s Cat Protection Glasgow branch, the staff quickly sussed out the real problem.
Cats Protection announced on its Facebook page that it was attempting to raise funds for an operation to help Harvey—and took in nearly $5,000 from hundreds of donors in less than two days.
It will take several months after the operation before Harvey is fully recovered. After that, Cats Protection will adopt him out to a permanent owner.
"He's a lovely wee thing, and because Harvey was born that way he doesn't know there's anything wrong with him,” Harvey's “foster carer” Liz McCulloch told STV. “So, he runs around on his elbows and happily plays with my other cat and dog."