She has arrived in the town from the ninth floor of an apartment building, but this cute cat has landed on her feet with plenty of loving friends to help her recover from her nighttime fall.
Christianed Hei Huidie, also known as Black Butterfly, because of the black fur on her face and body, is one lucky moggy. She fell 32 feet down from a building and landed safely on the fifth floor of the building in the city of Chongqing, southwest China.
The resilient feline survived a fall that fractured her spine, and after four major operations in six months, the eight-month-old kitty she is able to get around again using a wheeled brace. The poor cat has lost the use of her hind legs and requires daily physiotherapy following the fall in the Jiulongpo district area of Chongqing. She has been admitted with well-wishers at the Yu Bei Area Animal Hospital, including an anonymous woman who has put more than 10,000 yuan – approximately £1,100 – towards helping Black Butterfly recover. Because of her frailty, the director of the hospital, Cheng Yu, placed her in her office to make it easier to take care of her. When she senses a stranger, Black Butterfly will hide under her blanket.
Cheng took her out to pet her and before attaching the wheels to her back legs and encouraging her to walk with them, using food as an incentive.
Black Butterfly weighed 2kg and the wheels made up almost 30% of that weight.
With her wheels attached, she is able to gradually walk on her two front legs and after a few steps, she will stop for a rest then start over again.
Cheng said: “She is still on the slow road to recovery and needs to exercise her front legs daily to develop the strength in them.
“Last year we operated on her three times and had to repair her spleen, liver and bladder as well as amputate her hind legs.”
Cheng said that earlier this month Black Butterfly suddenly developed a swollen cheek and to save her life they had to operate on her again on March 8 to remove a gland under her tongue. She is currently in good health.
After going under the knife four times, she is not able to relieve herself in the normal way anymore and will have to use nappies every day. Cheng added: “Black Butterfleye is lucky to survive the fall of more than 10 metres, not to mention the stress of four operations in the space of six months. From my more than 10 years as a vet, I can say she has the strongest will to live of any animal I have seen.” The director said last week she told the story of Black Butterfleye to an American client called Alison.
Since then Alison has been coming almost every day to help with the lucky cat’s recovery process.
Alison also faces some problems with her back and comes every day to accompany Black Butterfly through her exercises on the mechanical wheels. She is a full-time mother and has been living in Chengqing together with her husband and two years ago, they moved to China to get a better education for their children. The family already keeps four stray cats and dogs at their home. As soon as Alison heard of the plight of Black Butterfly, she immediately reached out for help on Facebook and hopes one of her American friends in Chengqing may adopt the tough little cat. Alison, her daughter, and two of Claire’s classmates have been to the animal hospital to visit Black Butterfly.
There is concern that the mechanical wheels for Black Butterfly are too heavy and the length is not suitable and needs to be fixed. Alison said: ‘I am very proud of my daughter. At home, she helps with the cleaning, feeding and walking of our four strays. Helping these animals will instil a stronger sense of empathy in her and will encourage her to be friendly to strangers. I will do my best to help Black Butterfly.’ Alison said she will get all of her daughter’s class to care for Black Butterfly and hopes that she can quickly find a home for her own.
