Spin in her own way! Cute dwarf kitten is gaining thousands of fans online
An adorable dwarf cat is so small that her owner has had to equip the house with a series of special stairs and ramps so she can follow her big brother around the house.
Katie Stocks, 29, adopted Fig and her brother Dante last February, but was told Fig had dwarfism. Her condition has stunted the 18-month-old cat’s growth.
Katie, an NHS worker from Bristol, said: ‘I didn’t know feline dwarfism was a thing until we took Fig on and there’s no real information about it online.’
While it hasn’t been an easy journey for Fig, she has generated quite a following online and has nearly 170,000 followers on Instagram.
Fans of hers have labeled her as “gorgeous” and “cute,” with some expressing their desire to get a dwarf cat of their own.
Fig’s dwarfism was initially not apparent until the charity noticed that Dante was growing normally while Fig remained small
Katie has had to equip her house with several ramps and sets of mini ‘cat stairs’ to help her move around so she can still play freely with her brother Dante.
She added: “When we first agreed to tackle Fig and Dante, we knew nothing about her dwarfism.
‘We met the cats when they were very small and they said we should wait a little longer [to take them home] so that Fig could get a little taller and get her injections.
“A few weeks went by and they realized she wasn’t getting any bigger so they told us they suspected she had dwarfism which was confirmed by the vet.
“They asked if we still want to take her on and we’ve done our research, but there’s not much else to say other than to say they’re going to face health complications and their lifespan won’t be as long as a normal cat.”
Fig was part of a litter of three kittens, with her sister Melody also having dwarfism and Dante not.
Her dwarfism wasn’t apparent until the charity at first Cat protection noted that Dante grew normally while Fig remained small.
Due to her condition, the 18-month-old cat’s growth was stunted from a young age, meaning she’s remained a pint-sized
Fig is half the size of her brother Dante… but they are still close and Fig can now follow him around the house
Fig is so small that her owner has had to equip the house with a series of special stairs and ramps so she can follow her big brother around the house
Little Fig is not much bigger than a soda can, but she’s happy now that she’s on painkillers
While the average lifespan of a cat is between 12 and 18 years, the little fig is only expected to be between six and eight years.
She was doing well until February this year when she began to experience joint pain.
Katie said: ‘We X-rayed her and then gave her some painkillers.
“The same thing happened to Melody a few months later.
“They both had a bit of wobbling, but they’re both under treatment now and are doing really well.”
An X-ray showed the extent of Fig’s condition, with the young cat suffering from several skeletal problems, including a lack of kneecaps.
Katie said: ‘We have an x-ray and the growth plates in her spine are not formed properly and her ribcage is not formed properly.
Owner Katie, 29, adopted Fig and her brother Dante last year but was told Fig had dwarfism before taking her home
While the average lifespan of a cat is between 12 and 18 years, the little fig is only expected to live between six and eight years
Fig is now on a handful of medications to help her with the pain caused by her condition and although the discomfort had caused her some discomfort, she is now ‘a lot better’
“Her hips don’t have good socket joints, so the fetlock and socket are just hard against each other. She also has no kneecaps.
“Recently we had some blood tests done and they found that she has very low thyroid levels, so they diagnosed her with pituitary dwarfism.
“That’s what caused her stunted growth when she was a kitten.”
Fig is now on a handful of medications to help her with the pain and although the discomfort had caused her some discomfort, she is now ‘a lot better’.
Katie said: ‘When she was at the height of her pain situation, she had a little hole under the dining room table and she wasn’t really going to get out of there. We had to put her food in front of her. She was just a very sad cat.
“It took her a while to calm down [on her medication] but in the past three weeks she has become a completely different cat again and stomps around the house and garden like she is the boss.
“She’s much happier and very playful again.”
As adorable as Fig is, Katie has warned people not to actively look for a pet with dwarfism.
She said, “We get a lot of comments on Fig’s videos, like ‘Oh my God that’s great. I want a dwarf cat’, but I just want to say that I would never encourage anyone to get one.
“Obviously if you see a dwarf cat in a shelter then rescue it, but you need to think about the financial implications. I would like to tell people never to go out of their way to buy a dwarf cat because it is very expensive.”
Katie has insured Fig, but because the insurer labels her dwarfism a “pre-existing condition,” they rarely pay her veterinary bills.
Although Katie has to pay a lot herself, she gets some financial support from Cats Protection because she took Fig in knowing she had dwarfism.
Katie shared advice for people who might adopt a special needs cat like Fig and urged people to make adjustments to their homes as soon as possible.