YouTube/FacebookWe love our weekly roundup of the cutest animal videos on the Internet, but when you find a truly inspiring critter—more so than, say, posing adorably or barking almost-words—then that pup or kitten deserves a little extra spotlight.
And today, we've got just the kitten: Saltwater Taffy.
She was found in a backyard in Philadelphia with her siblings, Carmel Cornelius and Ruby Beer Float. And like her siblings, SWT has a bit of "specialness." Hers, specifically, is radial agenesis ("It seems I have contracted tendons and missing radial bones in my front limbs!," her owners write on her Facebook page.
And her "lobster claws," as the Animal Care & Control Team (ACCT) who rescued her call them, make it hard to walk:
Saltwater Taffy, who otherwise "seems to be in pretty good health," hates her physical therapy though, as children are wont to do: "She walks in circles out of spite until her foster mom puts her down and then she flops over to her foster mom's feet and screams to get picked up," ACCT says. "She is pretty sassy, which allows her to thrive!"
But here's a little bit of motivation for Saltwater, than comes in the form of a pup named Mick.
The Boston Terrier was rescued by the Mia Foundation at six-weeks old when it was discovered that he suffered from Swimmer Puppy Syndrome, which means the puppy was born with a flat chest and sternum. It stopped him from sitting, standing or walking properly.
"The minute I saw that dog I never thought he would walk a day in his life," Sue Rogers of Mia told Good Morning America. "He was flat as a pancake... This little puppy that had come three weeks before and just had to sit and watch the other puppies play is now leading the whole pack."
You can keep tabs on Mick (and some of his equally cute friends) on Facebook.
Until then, Saltwater Taffy will keep on working.
That is, if snuggling doesn't get in the way.
Did we mention how much she likes to snuggle? "I very much enjoy snuggling. In fact, I cry if they stray too far," SWT "confesses" on her Facebook page. "Some make call me fickle. What can I say? I'm a girl who knows what she wants."