A California kitten is lucky to be on all four paws after a strange medical condition left her looking less like a feline and more like a pufferfish.
Zoe, the stray now affectionately dubbed “puff kitty” by social media fans, was rushed to the Palm Spring Animal Shelter last week when rescuers noticed she was literally expanding before their eyes.
Dr. Phil Caldwell, the shelter’s medical director, said the tiny kitty was suffering from subcutaneous emphysema — a rare condition where air leaks from the windpipe and gets trapped under the skin.
Zoe appeared to be inflated like a “balloon,” Dr. Caldwell said.
X-rays of the bloated feline showed a thick layer of air separating her skin from her muscles. Experts believe the air leak was caused by some sort of trauma to her airway, though Zoe isn’t talking about how she got the injury.
To save the “inflated” feline, Dr. Caldwell had to perform a literal “deflation.” Using a needle and syringe, he poked the kitten’s neck, chest, and back to manually withdraw the trapped air.
“This is the craziest veterinary case I’ve seen in quite some time,” Caldwell said.
Videos of Zoe’s went viral online, racking up tens of thousands of likes on Instagram.
Caldwell shared an update recently online, saying Zoe has grown to two pounds. “She’s eating like a champ,” he wrote. “She loves to eat, and she’s gaining weight every single day.”
The shelter also shared the news that a T-shirt splashed with Zoe’s face is going on sale — and every penny will go straight into the shelter’s love fund, which bankrolls emergency care for animals in crisis.
