My mom has a bunch of pepper trees that grow along the outside of her front yard. Every year one of the neighborhood feral cat has a litter of kittens in the burrows at the base of these pepper trees. My mom first discovered these kittens in her trees when the city came to do their annual tree trimming and almost sawed a kitten in half with a chain saw. My mom rescued the kitten and that cat has been in the family ever since.

It’s not like my mom wants more cats, it’s just that she has a soft spot for them. (With this newest batch, the cat count is up to a shocking 18!) She took in the latest litter and bottle fed them with the intention to get them fixed and find them homes (though not necessarily in that order) so the feral cat population wouldn’t continue to grow exponentially in her front yard. But of course along the way we’ve all fallen in love with them.

One of the most special kittens is Forrest. Forrest has gimpy back legs. They are on backwards. He was born this way and seems to be in no pain at all. In fact, he romps and plays with his brother’s and sister as if he was a normal cat. He holds his own and wrestles just fine. He runs just as fast as the other’s by using his extra strong front paws and dragging his useless back paws behind him. The only thing he can’t do is scratch his ears with his back leg. He tries. It breaks your heart. He’s such a cute little guy.

We’re hoping to find homes for all the kittens but I have a feeling Forrest is going to stay. He has special needs and somehow he’s managed to crawl right into our hearts with those funny back legs.