Back in 2009 my husband and I were having a rough time having suffered the loss of two of our cats to Feline Leukemia. Both had it before we adopted them but they each died within six months of each other. Needless to say we were devastated to lose two cats in one year.

A couple of months later, a family friend told us about a stray cat that had given birth in a box-spring in a neighbors yard.

PHOTO: Christina

The litter appeared to be very healthy and the man who's property it was on was going to find homes for all of them.

A week or so later she found out one of the kittens had gotten it's foot caught in the wispy fabric from the box-spring. It went septic and the mother cat had literally gnawed off the gangrene foot. The foot from the ankle down was now gone.

The neighbor was going to him put down because he thought no one would want a three legged cat. Our friend took the kitten in hand & was keeping him until she could find a more permanent home for him.

When she called us she'd had him for a couple of weeks. She was raising him like a dog teaching him to play fetch. She herself has quite the assortment of sweet disabled animals including a deaf Jack Russel Terrier and a half blind JRT.

PHOTO: PEXELS

We took him in no questions asked and have kept him ever since. He is now one of the most sweetest cats I've ever had and his missing foot doesn't slow him down a bit. He still plays fetch every now and then.

He is the biggest snuggler, and I can't imagine what it would be like without him in our lives.

Story submitted by Christina of Anchorage, Alaska.

Troika's story was originally shared on theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com. Share your very own rescue story here!