Henry the ‘warrior cat’ becomes social media darling

WATCH ABOVE: A kitten at the Edmonton Humane Society has stolen the hearts of many. Emily Mertz has more on Henry.

EDMONTON – A tiny kitten left injured on the side of an Alberta highway is being cared for at the Edmonton Humane Society. In addition to making staff smile, Henry’s story has touched the hearts of many.

The Humane Society has been sharing his story – and updates on his condition – on Facebook and Instagram, building quite a following for the spirited kitten.

He’s even earned the nickname “warrior cat.”

When he was found on the side of the road near Red Deer about a month ago, Henry’s back leg was in bad shape and his front leg was severely dislocated. Since then, his back leg has healed nicely, but veterinarians say his front leg will need to be amputated.

“Because he’s so young and the injury was so severe, he’s not going to regain any use in that leg,” explained Jocelyn Wady, a Humane Society spokesperson.

“So, right now, while it might appear in the videos that he’s hopping around happily and he’s not having too much trouble with it, the leg is stabilized right now because of the cast. So once the cast would come off, it would really just be a hindrance to him to try to get around with it.

“They do amazingly well on three legs.”

The amputation has been postponed a few weeks so that Henry can put on a bit more weight prior to surgery.

But Henry doesn’t seem to be too affected by his injury. He’s often seen jumping around or swatting at toys. And, staff say his colourful casts seem to add to his charm.

“He’s so adorable and I think his little casts kind of captured the hearts of people out there,” said Wady. “And just the story of being sort of abandoned on the side of the highway – he battled through that – and he’s obviously doing very well as everyone can see on the videos. He’s a great ambassador for shelter animals here at the Humane Society.”

As of Friday, a GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $8,400 for Henry and the Humane Society’s Sick and Injured Animal Fund.

“That just goes directly towards helping cases like Henry when animals come in and they need extra care beyond what we regularly give them… that would all come from the Sick and Injured Animal Fund.”

And, when the time comes, Henry won’t have any trouble finding a forever home.

“We do have a lot of people asking when he’s going to be available for adoption,” said Wady. “There’s a long line-up.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We do have a lot of people asking when he's going to be available for adoption," said Wady. "There's a long line-up.

“We’re not going to make any plans for his adoption until he’s totally healed and ready to go.”

But all the interest, support and encouragement all through their little warrior’s journey is very much appreciated.

“We just want to thank everybody so much for all the help that they’ve given Henry and all the animals in our shelter… We thank everybody so much for the support and Henry does too,” Wady said.

“Meow,” Henry added.