Kitten Charlie living a full life despite paralysis

One-year-old ginger tom cat, Charlie was found in Flaxton after getting caught in a gin trap.

His injuries were so severe he had to have his leg amputated, and just when it looked like he may be on the mend, Charlie lost all feeling in his remaining back leg and was paralysed from the waist down.

When Charlie was released from the trap, the injuries to his hind leg were so severe that vets were unable to save it.

Gin traps are mechanical traps designed to catch an animal by their leg, using spring-operated jaws with teeth or a serrated edge.

The use of gin traps has been outlawed in the UK since 1958, but some are still being illegally used to catch animals such as rabbits and foxes.

Charlie was in extreme pain, dehydrated and underweight and as it was a few days before he was found and received vet treatment, his wounds were his wounds were oozing and necrotic and covered in fly eggs.

The poor moggy had to undergo emergency life-saving surgery to have his left hind leg amputated.

It is believed the young kitten came from a semi-feral cat colony near to where he was found as he had no microchip and was not neutered. Without an owner to care for him and to pay for treatment, RSPCA York Animal Home stepped in to help.

His fosterer, Claire Louise Welsh, is now fundraising for the branch who cared for him.

She said: “The RSPCA take in so many poorly animals that have been through some terrible things and as a fosterer you do prepare yourself for that.

“Although I never expected to be caring for a three-legged paralysed cat, I’m glad I did.

“The vet nurse brought him out to me and put him down on the floor, she cautioned me that he can be a bit nervous of new people and might hiss a bit. I was kneeling down on the floor on the opposite side of the room and with only the use of his front legs, he used every bit of his energy to drag himself over to me.

“He pulled himself up onto my knee and gave me the biggest face rub with his wet nose – I just knew from that moment on that there was something extra special about him.”