The photo of the “sad” cat became one of the most popular posts on Reddit. At first sight it seems like this is the most ancient cat in the world, but it’s not like that. The thing is, that Toby – that’s the name of our new celebrity – has a rare congenital disorder.
This strange pet lives in the English town of Stroud, Gloucestershire. He came to his owners – Georgina Price and Cristopher Lardner – in 2018. The owners, who were new-weds at that period, had a cat Herby, who died not so long before Toby. The couple had taken their first pet from a shelter.
Some time later, Georgina and Cristopher decided to bring a new pet. They found their future pets on the web page of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Seven year old Quinton and six year old Toby were inseparable. Quinton was missing all his teeth – they had to be removed because of infection. And Toby had a really unusual appearance. The entire face of the cat was covered with deep wrinkles, the skin in the part of stomach was hanging down almost to the ground.
Turned out, that the animal is suffering from rare Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (skin hyperelasticity). The disease is caused by disorders in the synthesis of collagen. Because of collagen shortage Toby’s skin is easily vulnerable and looks senile.
Before that the couple didn’t even know anything about the disease but still decided on “adopting” the strange kitten. At first, Quinton and Toby didn’t trust people. 7 months later, after the inseparable couple moved to Georgina and Cristopher, both people and the pets started to treat each other with great love and care.
Toby, especially, should be treated with great caution. Even Quinton doesn’t release his claws while playing with him. Sometimes the little brother helps Toby wash his face.
The owners, of course, are very worried about the affects of the disease on the cat’s health in the future. They are mostly worried about the condition of Toby’s joints. They carefully watch after the cat, so that he won’t make any dramatic jumps.
However, Toby himself is not particularly trying to contend. Most of all he likes people to scratch his tummy, and even asks them to do so by pawing at it. All in all, Toby is living his life fully and is absolutely happy. His little brother Quinton is happy too, who is successfully doing well with missing teeth. These amazing cats “run” their own webpage “tummyandgummy” where you can follow the events happening in their lives.
