They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but unfortunately, it’s still the way of the world. Each of us has characteristics that make us different and beautiful— and when we’re truly lucky, we find people who love and appreciate us exactly the way we are.
Scarlette Tipton, a 4-year-old amputee from California, and her 3-pawed rescue kitten Doc have found the acceptance they were seeking in each other— and now the two are an adorable matching pair.
Doc and Scarlette have gone through a lot during their short time on Earth. At 10 months old, Scarlette was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer that made her arm swell up. “She’s actually the only one to ever have her exact type of cancer documented on Earth,” Scarlette’s mother Simone told KTLA. And although Scarlette is now cancer-free, she had to have her arm amputated as a result the disease.
Doc the rescue kitty had been trying to stay warm under the hood of a car. The driver, not knowing the kitty was there, started the engine and the kitten’s foot got caught in the belt. Doc was immediately brought to San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus where rescue workers nursed her back to health. Unfortunately, similarly to Scarlette, Doc also had to have her right paw amputated.
Scarlette’s family learned about the adorable 3-pawed cat on TV.
“We wanted a little kitten to have [Scarlette] grow up with, so she has something that’s just like her,” Simone explained.
“When we saw Doc, it was like, hello, this is perfect,”
The family went to the rescue to meet “Holly” (what shelter workers had named the kitty). They immediately fell in a love and adopted her, renaming her “Doc” after Scarlette’s favorite cartoon character ‘Doc McStuffins’.
When Scarlette saw Doc, she noticed the staples on the kitten’s side. “Owies,” she said. Simone showed her that Doc had owies just like she does. Scarlette placed her hand on the kitten’s side and nodded.
“She recognizes that the cat has similar struggles as she does,” Scarlette’s mom explained.
“She’s only 2 but I think it really clicked with her that the cat was just like her.”
Nowadays, Scarlette and Doc are inseparable. And although each of them looks a little bit different, they’re both happy to have a friend who accepts them just the way they are.
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