A woman was surprised one day in fall 2016 to hear mewing from a dumpster. When she checked, she found a tiny, motherless, week-old calico kitten. It had a broken front leg, and one back paw was gangrenous.
She took it home and began bottle-feeding it. It was so young that its eyes hadn’t yet opened when it lost its back paw. But it was a fighter, and as its front leg healed, it soon began to grow like a weed. She named it Martyr.
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No one knows how Martyr ended up in the dumpster or what happened to the mother or littermates, but Martyr got lucky that day.
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The woman had lots of experience fostering out kittens, but Martyr was so cute and loving that she ended up adopting the kitten instead.
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The little cat still had a few surprises in store for rescuers. Most calicos are female, but as the kitten got older, it became clear that Martyr was a little boy!
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Calico boys are rare. Only 1 in 3,000 calicos turns out to be male and they are always sterile. Nevertheless, Martyr grew up otherwise healthy and is now a happy, rambunctious yearling.
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Martyr’s story went viral when his rescuer’s niece posted about him on imgur when he was 3 months old. He was an instant hit, and everyone was relieved to find out he had beaten such long odds to grow up healthy.
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May he live long and prosper!
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