Meet Cricket: The One Eyed Cat, Purr-fectly Precious In Every Way

Cricket's unique features have not stopped him from living his best life!

Elana

• Published in Animals
• July 2, 2019

As Cricket approaches his 2nd birthday (July 7th,) it's the purr-fect time to celebrate this special kitty. Cricket is missing an eye, has a cleft lip and a crooked jaw, and while his owner says that Cricket originally came from a breeder, he was adopted and his story is a shining inspiration of how special and wonderful adopting a special needs kitty can be for everyone involved in the adoption process!

Cricket's features are indeed unique, but his adorable little face is absolutely wonderful. The photos and videos shared on his Instagram are priceless, and the faces he makes on a daily basis are just the sort of thing to brighten anyone's day!

Cricket was born under the care of a breeder, but if it wasn't for his human's mother hearing about Cricket at precisely the right time, he may not have survived his youth. His loving human told us:

My mom works with a lady that was buying a dog from a breeder. When she went to go pick up the puppy, the breeder told her that she has a kitty that was just born with a cleft lip, crooked jaw, and one eye. The breeder claimed she was going to kill the kitten because it wasn’t “going to sell.”

She also didn’t want her buyers to know that her breeding cat has these genetic issues or that she was having too many kittens without a recovery time in between litters. So the breeder decided she was going to kill the kitten within the next couple of days.

Thankfully, the coworker remembered she knew someone who loved animals, all animals:

The next day my mother’s coworker told my mom about the kitten; knowing both my mom and I are animal lovers and care for lots of animals. My moms coworker explained the kittens situation and that the breeder said she would give the kitten away for free if she found someone soon.

Cricket's human says when she saw the precious kitten... it was love at first sight for her!

After taking him home, Cricket enriched the lives of his human rescuers.

Today, he is a fun-loving, spunky kitty with over 64,000 followers on Instagram!

Cricket is bursting with purr-sonality. When he's not being adorable like he is in this video, his human says he is up to mischief:

Cricket steals treats from our little dog, cricket doesn’t eat them or want to eat them but he steals them and puts them in all of the human shoes.

Today, Cricket also serves a greater purr-pose. His family believes that all cats are worth love and value and that Cricket is true testament to this concept. They created his Instagram to help spread awareness. His human told us:

Cricket doesn’t have many problems and he isn’t much more work than any other cat! Some special needs kitties require a lot of time and labor and it is always worth it. But Cricket isn’t a whole lot of work!

They also told us:

He requires his diet to be mostly soft food due to the cleft lip and crooked jaw. When he eats, the food tends to fall out of his mouth and it takes him longer than the average cat to eat a meal. His one eye doesn’t slow him down! Sometimes he runs crooked but he can sneak attack like any other kitty!

Special needs cats (or any special needs animals) are worth adopting. They just have more love and appreciation than regular animals. Cricket doesn’t have many problems and he isn’t much more work than any other cat! Some special needs kitties require a lot of time and labor and it is always worth it.

Cricket's family hopes that by seeing a paws-itive outcome and joyful life from a special-needs kitty, more people will be inspired to, "adopt, don't shop," and consider special needs kitties when it comes time to expand their family of the furry feline variety.

We asked Cricket's family what Cricket loves. His favorite toy is his small mouse, but he also "loves bottle caps off of plastic bottles, [and] anything small that he can kick and chase around!"

Cricket also enjoys playing hide and seek with his human!

Cricket came from a breeder but he was adopted. I would never buy a dog or cat or any animals. The shelters and rescues are full of homeless animals. It’s important to spread awareness and save lives by adopting rather than buying

You can support Cricket and his paws-itive message by following him on Instagram! His sweet, little face popping up on your feed is guaranteed to make your day brighter and better every time you see him.

Elana