Benny and his siblings arrived at Best Friends’ Kitten Nursery in Los Angeles two years ago in search of a second shot at life. One of the kittens died, but the tiniest of them all, Benny, was desperate to live.
He was born with eyelid agenesis, a congenital disorder in which the eyelid does not form properly throughout development. His condition was serious, and when he was old enough, he would need reconstructive eyelid surgery.
Benny, on the other hand, had an especially hard path to recovery. Tina, the foster parent, said, “He was unwell and didn’t grow for the first two months.”
The ginger child was just half the size of his brothers and sisters. While the other two kittens improved and grew, Benny remained little and struggled to acquire weight.
There were fears that he wouldn’t make it, but Benny refused to give up, and Tina joined him in the battle.
Little Benny was nurtured back to health and began to grow after two months of round-the-clock feedings and several sleepless nights.
“We spent so much time trying to get him to thrive that we couldn’t let him go,” Tina explained.
They knew Benny would require special care in the future, and they were certain that they could meet his medical demands.
Tina said, “We waited until it was time for him to be neutered and placed for adoption before we realized there was no way we could let him go.”
“We’d already given him our hearts.”
Benny underwent his initial eyelid surgery when he was nine months old, followed by a follow-up procedure a few months later.
He demands attention from his people when he isn’t wrestling or playing with his feline companions.
