She decided to roam around the streets from the ninth floor of an apartment building but this cute cat caught her attention as it landed on her feet. She kindly lent a hand to help her recover from her nighttime fall.
Christened Hei Hui, also known as Black Butterfly, because of the black fur on her face and body, the only lucky moggy fell 32 feet down to the fifth floor of the building, from the fifth floor to the fourth floor, and then to the third floor before finally landing on the second floor of the blacksmith’s shop in the city of Chongqing, southwest China.
The resilient feline survived a fall that fractured her spine, and after four major operations in six months, the eight-month-old kitty she is able to get around again using a wheeled brace. The poor cat has lost the use of her hind legs and requires daily physiotherapy following the fall in the Jiulongpo district area of Chongqing. She has been inundated with well-wishers at the Yu Bei Area Animal Hospital, including an anonymous woman who has put more than 10,000 yuan – roughly £1,100 – towards helping Black Butterfly recover. Because of her frailty, the director of the hospital, Cheng Yu, placed her office to make it easier to take care of her. When she sees a stranger, Black Butterfly will hide her head under her blanket.
Cheng had taken her out to pet her and before attaching the wheels to her back legs and encouraging her to walk with them, using food as an incentive. Black Butterfly weighs 2kg and the wheels make up almost 30% of that weight. With her wheels attached, she is able to gingerly walk on her two front legs and after a few steps she will stop for a rest then start over again.
Cheng said: “She is still on the slow road to recovery and needs to exercise her front legs daily to develop the strength in them. Last year we operated on her three times and had to repair her spleen, liver and bladder as well as amputate her hind legs.”
Cheng added that earlier this month Black Butterfly suddenly developed a swollen cheek and to save her life they had to operate on her again on March 8 to remove a gland under her tongue. She is currently in good health.
After going under the knife four times, she is not able to relieve herself in the normal way anymore and will have to use nappies every day.
Cheng added: “Black Butterfley is lucky to survive the fall of more than 10 meters, not to mention the stress of four operations in the space of six months.
“From my more than 10 years as a vet I can say she has the strongest will to live of any animal I have seen.”
The doctor said last week she told the story of Black Butterfley to an American client called Alison. Since then Alison has been coming almost every day to help with the lucky cat’s recovery process.
Alison, who is a part-time math teacher, is currently facing some problems with her back. Despite this, she still accompanies her daughter to recommend Black Butterfly throughout her exercises on the mechanical wheels. Her daughter, Claire, is an Englienered student in China and has been there for four years already. The family already kept four stray cats and dogs at their home.
As soon as Alison heard of the plight of Black Butterfly, she immediately put out a call for help on Facebook and hopes one of her American friends in China may adopt the cute little cat. Alison and two of Claire’s classmates have already been to the animal hospital to visit Black Butterfly.
The mechanical wheels on Black Butterfly are causing concern as they are too heavy and not suitable. Alison, a proud owner of her daughter, helps with the cleaning, feeding, and walking of their four strays. She believes that helping these animals will instill a strong sense of empathy in her daughter and encourage her to be friendly to strays. Alison said that she will do her best to help Black Butterfly. She plans to enroll in her daughter’s class to care for Black Butterfly and hopes to quickly find a home for her.
