Junie is a 5-year-old cat with green eyes who loves tuna. Like many cats, she’s picky about who she trusts and meows loudly for attention. Unlike many cats, Junie doesn’t just walk — she skis.
Both of Junie’s front legs bend inward at the wrists, with her paws facing up. Junie’s mom, Emily, who asked that her last name be omitted, worried that the position was painful. But vets assured her that it’s not. And anyone watching Junie glide across the floor like she’s cruising through fresh powder can tell she is living it up with her unique paws.
“She literally [started] doing it all by herself,” Emily told The Dodo. “It was … the cutest, funniest thing we’d ever seen.”
Emily didn’t know about Junie’s gliding skills when she adopted her. In fact, Emily wasn’t in the market for a pet at all. She and her partner were still grieving the recent loss of their dog when a friend asked them to come over to meet Junie, a foster at the time. Junie had been surrendered by her previous family and didn’t get along with the other cats in the home.
“I literally cried when I met her,” Emily said. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding? She’s unreal.’”
That first meeting took place in an apartment with carpeting, and as Emily watched Junie walk around on her wrists, it became obvious that leaving the cat behind was out of the question. So they brought Junie home to see if the love was mutual.
That’s when they discovered Junie’s skiing.
“The first time we saw her actually do a full, big ski was in our apartment,” Emily said. “We knew that she would slide on the hardwood, but we didn’t know it would look like that.”
The skiing comes so naturally to Junie that Emily wonders if someone taught her how to do it. “That’s the … part that just breaks my heart,” Emily said. “I hope that someone taught her that, or like, she had love, because we just don’t know what those first few years were like.”
Junie’s life before her surrender is a mystery. What Emily does know, based on information from Northwest Animal Companions rescue, where Junie ended up, is that Junie’s unique paws aren’t the result of an accident or injury.
Vets diagnosed her with bilateral front limb deformity, telling Emily that Junie’s bones and ligaments are healthy, so it could be a neurological issue.
Junie, sassy and fearless, doesn’t seem to care how or why her paws are different. She leaps up onto Emily’s bed and the kitchen table with ease. She enjoys the balcony and playing with toys, like any cat.
“She is always surprising me with how capable she is,” Emily said. “I just love when I catch her doing something that you wouldn’t expect her to maybe be able to do.”
To make life a little easier for Junie, Emily and her partner placed their late dog’s bed underneath their new pet’s favorite window sill. When Junie jumps down, Emily can tell the extra cushioning is nice under her wrists.
The only thing Junie isn’t sold on is a sibling — she just doesn’t seem interested in sharing the love.
“She’s so smart. She knows exactly what she wants all the time,” Emily said. “And I love her for it.”