Junie, a five-year-old rescue cat with an extraordinary “ski-like” way of getting around, has melted hearts online, amassing a whopping 80,000 followers on Instagram.
The feline’s unique walk, caused by her front legs bending inwards at the wrists, has charmed animal her who find her method of movement “adorable”. Managed by her owner Emily, Junie’s dedicated account showcases numerous delightful snaps and clips of her embracing life, unfazed by her condition.
Her paws, which face upwards due to the bend in her legs, allow her to glide across smooth surfaces using the furry backs of them. Emily shared with the Dodo that Junie’s skiing walk was self-taught and utterly endearing: “She literally [started] doing it all by herself. It was the cutest, funniest thing we’d ever seen.”
The story of how Emily came to adopt Junie is equally touching. After the loss of her pet dog, a friend invited her to meet Junie, who had been “surrendered” by her previous owners because she didn’t get along with other cats at the property
And upon meeting Junie, Emily was overwhelmed with emotion. “I literally cried when I met her,” she confessed. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding? She’s unreal.'”
It wasn’t until Junie settled into her new home that Emily witnessed the remarkable skiing technique for the first time.
“The first time we saw her actually do a full, big ski was in our apartment,” Emily revealed. “We knew that she would slide on the hardwood, but we didn’t know it would look like that.”
One of Junie’s videos on Instagram has gone viral with 3.2 million views, showing her gliding across Emily’s laminate-floored living room floor with ease. “Who needs snow when you have skis like me?” Junie ‘said’ via her caption.
The clip left thousands gobsmacked, with one admirer commenting: “She is such a beautiful and talented girl! So happy she learned to ski and that her front paws being the way they are are not painful and she’s everything and normal cat should be!”
Another Exclaimed: “She is so photogenic and adorable you are lucky you have her. I’m pretty sure you’ll give her a lot of love.” A third person confessed their adoration: “I would die for Junie ice hockey skis. She’s just the most precious thing.”
Whilst a fourth praised cats’ resilience: “Wow. I think they adapt and don’t feel sorry for themselves like humans do. They just live.”