Kitten adapting to life on three legs after fateful rescue

Forest the kitten is pictured in an image from the Langley B.C. cat shelter C.A.R.E.S.

A once-feral kitten is now adapting to life on three legs, after a simple rescue mission in Langley, B.C., took what rescuers are calling a life-saving twist of fate.

A man in South Langley slowly gained the trust of the kitten and its mother, who had been coming and going from the RV park where he lives.

After noticing a small injury on the kitten’s leg at the beginning of February, he contacted the cat shelter C.A.R.E.S., which sent a volunteer to help bring it to safety.

A humane trap was set, and the next morning they found it had worked as planned. Except that the kitten inside, who has been named Forest, was now missing the better part of one of her legs.

Forest was rushed to a veterinarian, who thinks the gruesome injury may have come from a coyote attack. Her life was saved, but her leg was not.

Rescuers at C.A.R.E.S. believe Forest’s dramatic night could have turned out much worse, saying in a statement on social media that “what we didn’t realize at the time was just how miraculous her timing had been.”

They believe Forest stepped into the trap during the attack, and that the door snapped shut behind her, creating a barrier between the kitten and the predator.

Tara White, who volunteers as a fundraising director at C.A.R.E.S., told CTV News that she thinks it was “possibly divine intervention” that saved her. And it wouldn’t be the end of Forest’s good fortune.

The man who originally found Forest made a $1,000 donation to her life-saving surgery, which White says “is incredible for us as a non-profit.”

The rescue has lifted the spirits of volunteers at the shelter, which takes in about 40 cats every month.

“It gives you that little bit of motivation you need back sometimes, like trapping cats can be very emotional and very difficult, so when you have little situations like this it kind of refills your tank a bit, which is nice,” White said.

The mother cat was later captured and spayed at the shelter, and then returned to the man in Langley who had originally cared for her. The man, who White calls “a pretty incredible guy,” also paid for the spaying.

Forest is now living with a foster family, who say she is “still a little bit feisty,” but coming around well. It will still be a few months before the kitten, who is believed to be about 4-5 months old, will be ready for adoption.

C.A.R.E.S. is a no-kill, non-profit rescue that has been running in Langley since 1993. The volunteer run organization currently has 120 cats in their care.