Lori Farris, a 50-year-old teacher, from Florida, USA, rescued a cat with Down’s Syndrome that she found wandering around in the street. She even saved the poor animal from being euthanized and gave her a forever home. However, she never thought that this kitten was about to become an important part of her life.
Farris stumbled across the kitten one day as she was leaving work. The kitten appeared to be in terrible condition. The poor kitten had a bloodied nose, was filthy, and was covered with fleas.
“One day when I left a student’s house there was a tiny, dirty kitten on the doorstep and she followed me to my car,” recalled Lori. “I took her home and cleaned her because she had fleas and a bloody nose.”
After cleaning the cat up at home, Farris gave her the name Willow. She took the kitten to the veterinarian a few days later for a checkup. In addition to eye infections and intestinal parasites, the veterinarian discovered that the kitten had fleas.
Sadly, the veterinarian predicted that the kitten will most certainly be killed at a shelter since it wasn’t ‘beautiful’. Farris was aware that she couldn’t allow this to occur since she loved animals. She therefore made the choice to take the kitten home with her in order to provide for her in the greatest way.
“The poor thing had eye infections, fleas and intestinal parasites but the vet thought she seemed healthy other than her face and mouth – she said it was like feline Down Syndrome. The vet said that the shelter would surely euthanize her since she wasn’t ‘pretty’ so I decided to keep her.”
Given that cats cannot have Down’s syndrome and Willow the cat seemed to be in overall good condition, the doctors speculated that it may simply be a facial abnormality. Willow happily overcame all of her problems over time, and she soon adapted to her new life with Farris.
Willow is undoubtedly lovely in her own unique manner, and her family adores her so much, despite the fact that her face and lips looked different from those of a conventional cat.
Farris stated, “I don’t like when people call her ugly, retarded, or filthy. I’m comfortable with people saying she’s weird-looking because she is. “I believe that she appeals to people because she is a symbol of love, goodness, and beauty despite having an unusual appearance. I’m very happy to have her in my life since she is a great little cat in every aspect.
Willow is now about two years old, and she is enjoying her happy and healthy life with Farries and her canine friend, Ella the Boxer. She now even has her own Instagram with over 141,000 followers.
