6-legged street cat awaits surgery, then adoption

Pauly is one tough cat.

He scratched out a livingon the streets in southwest Edmonton, despitedeformedhips andtwo extra legs sticking out ofhis chest.

Every step was painful.

"When I first got the email about Pauly, I thought they meant he had six toes, which is not unusual," said Virginia Marando, president of Little Cats Lost Society.

"Then when I discovered he had six legs, it was quite amazing to see that he survived on the streets."

When Pauly was discovered, his rescuers realized he was in need of serious help and got in touch withMarando.

Pauly's two extra legs are joined to his sternum, tucked in behind his front legs. They are longer than his front legs, and X-rays seem to show they are actually back legs rotated 180 degrees.

"It is quite rare,"Marandotold Edmonton AM's Tim Adams. "I've never come across it before."

The legsare not functional.Pauly has todragthem.

Paulyhas had surgery already to survive, butneedsfurthersurgery, so Marando started an online fundraising campaign to raise $2,000.

"It has just gone way beyond our dreams," she said. "Almost double the goal."

But that's just as well, she said,sincePauly will require weeks ofrehab and physiotherapy.

For now, Pauly is recovering from last week's surgery on his hips.

"We're going to work with him to get his hips healed as best we can before we go ahead and do the actual removal of the extra legs," Marando said.