California animal shelter houses adorable SPECIAL NEEDS cats who are most at risk of being euthanized in regular animal pounds

A California animal shelter is helping save the lives of pets by caring for cats from around the world with special needs.

SNAP catsbased in Santa Rosa, has made its mission to focus adoption efforts on housing adorable kittens who may have ailments or physical deformities that would otherwise make them more difficult to adopt.

SNAP stands for Special Needs Are Precious and essentially provides a lifeline to cats that would be overlooked in other shelters and, as a result, be first in line to be euthanized.

One kitten recently arrived with birth defects and two deformed legs, while another cat currently being housed has no front leg and back leg.

Darryl Roberts, the founder of SNAP Cats, says there is a misconception that cats with special needs can be a burden.

This festive cat is Coconut, 3 years and 4 months old and he was going to be euthanized because he is FIV+ – the Feline immunodeficiency virus. Fortunately he was rescued

The shelter, founded by Darryl Roberts in 2013, aims to save felines that are often overlooked in other shelters and may face euthanasia.

Sugar, right, is a new arrival at SNAP Cats. She has two legs that are much shorter than the other

This is Bonnie. She is 1 year and 3 months old and has a missing hind leg

GB is 9 years and 3 months old. He loves attention, head massages and body pets. He has moderate ataxia, which means he has no muscle control in his legs and is not always aware of where his feet are

“They're usually the last to be adopted, so shelters that are always full, look at what they have, and the special needs ones are always the ones that need to be euthanized,” Roberts shared. KRON4.

But Roberts says it's people who bring their own emotions into the cats' lives, and urges potential foster parents not to let the pets feel sorry for themselves.

“One of the things people don't understand is that animals can't rationalize,” Roberts explains. 'So they can't look at another cat and say, 'Why do I have three legs and they have four?' They are who they are. They don't feel sorry for themselves, so we shouldn't feel sorry for them either.'

Roberts founded SNAP Cats in 2013 with the specific goal of saving cats with a variety of conditions, including twisted or missing limbs, blindness, deafness and diabetes.

The cats have come from all over California, and one furry friend from the Middle East has led to more than 550 special needs cats being placed in warm, loving homes.

SNAP Cats founder Darryl Roberts says there is a misconception that cats with special needs are a burden. He says that the animals don't rationalize and that people shouldn't feel sorry for them

Roberts has run the cat shelter for the past ten years, during which he and his staff have managed to house more than 550 cats.

Roberts is seen in the cat kitchen preparing meals for his feline family

The shelter provides the animals with the proper medical care they need until they are adopted

If many of these deformed cats were in other shelters, they would be overlooked and, as a result, first in line to be euthanized

Sparrow is 9 years and 9 months old and very affectionate with people. He loves attention and pets. Because he is blind, Sparrow requires a stable environment, which means furniture, cat trees, etc. cannot be moved at all as this disorients him.

Stanley is 7 years and 3 months old. He's actually incontinent, which means he's a very messy kitty who takes baths every day, but look at that face!

Professor X is 8 years old and moves well on his hind legs. He can walk on it if he wants to, but he has learned that he can move much faster when he slides across the floor.

Cats are brought in from all over California and around the world. This one has deformed legs

Another kitten named Sugar had deformed legs, but despite her challenges, the charity was able to find her a new home in New Mexico.

'We finally named her Sugar and she is missing a right front leg and a right hind leg. From what I understand, she was just wandering around… alone. She was not taken care of. She was probably a drifter,” Roberts explained.

'The mother probably left her because they know better than to spend their energy on cats that might not survive. “Someone found her, took care of her and contacted the local shelter,” he said.

Despite recently arriving at the shelter, Sugar was quickly adopted by a New Mexico woman who had previously adopted from SNAP.

Donations to SNAP Cats can be made by visiting them website.

SNAP Cats rescued Coconut from Bakersfield, California, where he was scheduled to be euthanized because he was FIV+. He's the first cat that greets you when you enter the room, says SNAP Cats

Ana is five months old. She has a tilted head, but she's adopted