Phineas was born to his rescue cat mother Pumpkin, while she was being fostered until her litter was born and old enough to be adopted out.
Little Phineas was the runt of the litter, and had a neurological condition called cerebellar hypoplasia.
This is the result of the cerebellum of a cats brain not developing fully, and effects their fine motor skills, co-ordination, and balance.
The condition is not painful and cats who have this can lead full and healthy lives in the future.
Just like Phineas grew up to have.
But when he was still a kitten, whether he would grow up at all was not a certainty.
Fading kitten syndrome
Pumpkin gave birth to five kittens, including Phineas, so there were many mouths to feed.
And Phineas being the runt of the litter needed some extra care from his foster mom, Debbie Harris, to survive.
When Phineas was still a newborn, he began showing the symptoms of Fading Kitten Syndrome (FKS).
Fading Kitten Syndrome is “a collection of signs that develop in neonatal (newborn) kittens and signify their rapidly declining health.”.
Some of these signs are; a very low birth weight, an inability to nurse properly, being abandoned by their mother, and hypothermia.
Thankfully Harris was able to recognize the signs and step in before it was too late.
But even then, Phineas nearly didn’t make it.
Although once he did, he was adopted into his loving forever home where he took full advantage of his newfound health.
Foodie feline
Phineas was adopted into his forever home by Collin Anderson, a man who studies the cerebellum in his professional life, making him the perfect caregiver for Phineas.
He joined Anderson’s already adopted pets, a dog named Holly and a similar looking ginger cat named Tyrion.
And straight away, he fit right in.
Phineas also started to show an unending hunger for food!
Whether this is because of his history with Fading Kitten Syndrome, or because he just loves causing trouble is hard to know.
Either way his behavior is very entertaining.
Phineas survived against the odds, and now wreaks havoc to get to any food he smells near him.
