Injured Cat Comforts Nervous Sick Animals in Vet Clinic in Russia and Becomes Part of the Team

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A vet clinic in Perm, Russia, has welcomed a rather unusual assistant onto its nursing staff. Lucik the cat was paralyzed when they found him, but since being taken into the care of Fang & Perm Veterinary Clinic, he has paid it forward by volunteering himself as a comforting companion to the clinic’s other sick and injured animals.

As of January 2020, Lucik is the clinic’s beloved mascot and a social media star in his very own right.

According to Bored Panda, when Lucik was first found, he already had severely limited mobility in his back legs. Fang & Perm’s veterinary staff suspected that Lucik had been trapped between a door and its frame, which damaged the nerves in his spine.

While his back legs remain paralyzed to this day, Lucik is a sweet, gregarious, happy cat that has channeled his love and gratitude into helping other animals in need. The handsome black feline has learned how to drag himself around the clinic floor using his front paws, and he fills his days with bringing comfort to ailing patients in the clinic’s many kennels.

One photo posted to Instagram even shows the friendly cat sharing a soft bed with a tiny canine patient. “Lucik and Gizya are inseparable friends,” reads the caption. “Do your pets sleep together too?”

Lucik is also a hit with veterinary staff and visitors, too, with photos showing many people snuggling up to Lucik for a morale boost in an environment that could easily be fraught with fear and trepidation, otherwise; saving lives is no mean feat.

Beyond providing comfort to others, Lucik has even acted as a blood donor for other cats in need. As such, Lucik can lay claim to having saved lives himself.

“We know that the army of fans of Lucik is great and gigantic,” the Fang & Perm vet team posted on Instagram on Nov. 27, 2019. “Let’s say hello to our furry doctor,” they added, beside a picture of their veterinary technician, Daria, with her favorite feline locked in a warm embrace.

Another photo shows Lucik snuggled into a member of the clinic staff’s lap with his head resting on the desk in front. “When the flow of patients in the clinic subsides, it’s time for Lucik,” reads the caption.

According to PetMD, paralysis in cats can occur for a number of reasons. Any trauma to the nerve pathway running from the cat’s brain down the spinal cord can result in miscommunication between the brain and the body, resulting in a lack, or even loss, of movement and coordination.

A lack of mobility in the hind legs, as in Lucik’s case, is known as paraplegia. For paraplegic cats who are not able to compensate for their limited mobility with the strength of their front legs, cat “wheelchairs” are an option.

A cat named Rocky living in New Jersey was outfitted with a said set of wheels after a spinal injury as a kitten left his hind legs paralyzed. As per Inside Edition, Rocky’s wheels allow him to move around almost as quickly and nimbly as any other cat.

“People [say] he’s so lucky you’re the one that found him because anyone else would have put him to sleep,” Rocky’s owner, Dawn Firestone, explained. “It’s all handling and love, and the love I get back is beyond ridiculous.”

Rocky and Lucik are two examples of injured kitties thriving despite their disabilities.

While Lucik’s name may be translated into English as “Lucifer,” the benevolent black cat is nothing like his namesake. Instead, the sweet cat continues to pay it forward to his rescuers, despite his limitations, and is winning hearts everywhere for his vocation of choice.