Aoife the two-year-old tabby has a different way of life to most cats, but that doesn’t stop her ruling the roost at home.
When she was rescued at two weeks old it was discovered that Aoife was paralysed on her bottom half, meaning she has to wear a nappy and use her front paws to get around.
Despite her challenges, owner Sabrina de Matteo, 45, began sharing posts about her beloved pet online, saying the cat has ‘stolen the hearts of millions of people’.
Sabrina, a fitness and wellness coach, has to manually empty Aoife’s bladder and bowels twice a day, but hopes her videos show that a disabled cat can have a good quality of life.
Sabrina, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, James, 40, also a fitness and wellness coach, and their six cats, said: ‘Through the videos, people have been able to see just how loved and well looked after Aoife is.
‘There are some people who say that it’s cruel to keep her alive but to that I argue why? Because she is disabled?
‘Aoife is not in pain – she is very happy. You just have to look at the videos to see that. Her needs may be different than other cats but her life has worth.’
Despite playing mother to five other cats, Sabrina says Aoife has settled in well at home.
‘Aoife has a hilarious, fun and feisty personality and she is definitely the boss of the house,’ she said.
‘She has a very loving home and life.’
For long-time cat lover Sabrina, adopting felines in need has become a habit she could not break.
She and James have also adopted Pebbles, a five-year-old tortoiseshell, Kevin, a four-year-old black cat, Sofia, a three-year-old calico, Ellie Mae, a white three-year-old, and Peter, a two-year-old long grey hair.
‘We already had two cats, Pebbles and Kevin, but we found Sofia on an animal shelter’s webpage in May 2019 and just fell in love,’ she said.
‘She was a calico cat with a suspected broken leg who needed a home, so we brought her in.’
Ellie Mae was later found on the hood of a car (she was so dirty shelter workers initially thought she was grey) and adopted by the couple, before Peter came along during the pandemic.
But in November 2020, James and Sabrina’s heartstrings were pulled again when she came across another cat in need on an animal rescue’s Instagram page.
Aoife was a tabby cat, just a couple of weeks old when she was found as a stray.
‘Her lower half is completely paralysed which means she can’t use her back legs,’ Sabrina said.
‘We don’t know how she became paralysed but we hope she was born that way.
‘She was two weeks old when she was first found and it’s a miracle she’d survived that long without help.’
Determined to give Aoife her forever home, Sabrina and James spent two months working with the cat’s foster mum to learn how to properly take care of her.
Sabrina said: ‘We put in a lot of work to make sure we were fully capable of taking good care of her.
‘Because of her paralysis, she is unable to use the litter box so she wears a diaper and we have to manually express her bowels and bladder twice a day.
‘At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to do it but, with practice, it’s second nature and only takes a few seconds at a time to do.
‘We just fell in love with that little kitten and were willing to do what it took to bring her home with us.’
Once in the morning and once in the evening, Sabrina lays food out on a specially built changing table to distract Aoife while she presses down on her belly.
She said: ‘Aoife has no feeling in her belly so it doesn’t hurt her. You can actually feel where the poop is and you just press down to push it out.
‘It’s not as gross as you may think, it’s no more gross than another cat using a litter tray. It’s just a routine task we need to do for her.’
Because Aoife’s foster parent was sharing the cat’s journey on social media, Sabrina and James felt they ‘had to prove [them]selves’ to a large following.
‘Some of them were annoyed that Aoife had even been allowed to be adopted,’ she adds, ‘as they were sceptical as to whether James and I were capable.’
After setting her up in her new forever home, the pair set up an Instagram account for Aoife to continue documenting her story.
The @purrfectlyaoife account now has over 59,000 followers, with videos racking up millions of views.
‘It’s incredible that so many people are getting to be part of Aoife’s journey,’ said Sabrina.
‘She’s a very special cat and we could not imagine life without her now.
‘Not only has she stolen our hearts but also the hearts of millions of people.’
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