Disabled orange kitten with VERY angry face becomes new internet star
A cute disabled kitten with an angry face has become a new internet sensation.
Tater Tot, a rescue cat on a long journey to recovery, has charmed Facebook and TikTok users around the world with his tousled hair and mismatched plaster casts on his front paws — which his foster mom calls his “bodankabonks.”
The orange kitten was found by Ash Houghton’s border collie outside her home in Utah when he was just over a day old.
“We saw that all four of his legs were deformed,” Houghton said WKRG. “His front legs were stuck in a 90-degree turn and his back legs were all curled.”
He was also born with a cleft palate.
Now thousands of cat lovers around the world follow his progress as they create fan art and memes and donate to his rescue organization, Kitty CrusAIDE.
Tater Tot, a special needs kitten with tousled hair and mean looks, has become an internet sensation
The kitten was fitted with mismatched casts and splints for its front legs, which protruded at a 90-degree angle
Once those were fixed, Tater Tot got new yellow casts and splints on his back legs
When Houghton first met Tater Tot last month, she noticed he still had feeling and movement in his legs.
She tried to feed him with a syringe, she said, but he didn’t know how to drink from it.
“Normally, when you first bottle-feed the kittens, that’s not a natural feeling for them, so they struggle for a minute or two, but eventually they’ll sort of understand what they’re doing, and that instinct will kick in,” he said. Houghton Robber.
“But this little guy just didn’t get it.”
It was then that she and Kitty CrusAIDE rescuers decided to look inside Tater Tot’s mouth, and they realized he had a cleft palate.
Fortunately, Houghton knew how to feed him.
“We just watched it hour by hour, and he really fought hard to be here.”
After a short time, the rescuers were able to get casts and splints on his front legs – a pink one on his right leg and a teal on the left.
“From day one, I saw that Tater had a lot of guts, a lot of motivation,” said Houghton. “And as long as he fights to stay alive, we’ll keep fighting for him.”
Ash Houghton’s border collie found Tater Tot when he was just over a day old, and she soon noticed that all four of his legs were deformed
He also had a split palette, so Houghton had to feed him through a tube
As with all the cats she’s rescued over the years, Houghton decided to share his progress on social media.
Finally, someone tagged one of her photos in the Facebook group THIS CAT IS SMALL.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is funny. He looks really grumpy in this picture, I’ll post it,'” Houghton recalled. “Then it got thousands of likes, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen this before.'”
Soon fans started asking for updates on Tater Tot, and Houghton decided to form her own group to share content, Tater Tot and his Spudbuds, which now has over 20,000 members from the US, Europe, New Zealand and South Africa.
“The intent behind the group was just to share his updates, and then I really wanted to highlight other animals with special needs, share their stories, and see if maybe we can help other creatures with disabilities get adopted.”
It has since taken off, filled with photos of people sharing photos of their own rescue cats and Tater Tot memes.
The young kitten has received worldwide attention. He is pictured here on a local Harley Davidson
Many online have made memes of the young kitten’s many facial expressions
A Facebook group dedicated to sharing updates about Tater Tot has more than 20,000 followers from the US, Europe, New Zealand and South Africa.
Tater Tot fame started when Houghton shared one of his photos on the THIS CAT IS GROMPY Facebook page
Tater Tot has since gotten his front, had mismatched casts removed, and was recently filmed trying to walk through Houghton’s house.
“He was like a new kitten when we took that off,” she said KSL TV. “I think it wears him out a little bit because he can have as much movement as he’s had and move as much as he’s been able to do because those splints really hampered his ability.
“Before that, he walked on the tips of his toes or the fronts of his paws,” she explained. “He couldn’t put his leg flat to walk, and now he’s doing great.”
Tater Tot now has yellow casts on his hind legs, and Houghton says it will be a while before he will be healthy enough to be put up for adoption.
He has yet to undergo a number of medical procedures, including one to correct his cleft palette, which can take between nine months and a year to complete.
Tater Tot now has yellow casts on his hind legs and Houghton says it will be a while before he will be healthy enough to be put up for adoption
Meanwhile, Houghton says she’s amazed at the impact Tater Tot has.
“I feel like Tater Tot really brings a lot of joy to a lot of people,” she said. “I feel like he brought people together from all walks of life.
‘All the reactions and the posts and the shares were very positive, and you don’t see that often anymore.
“It was just amazing…to be able to share something that has such a positive impact.”