There’s an old Egyptian proverb that says: “A beautiful thing is never perfect.” Well we found someone who’s most definitely beautiful and pretty purrfect in our eyes! Meet Monty – the ‘crooked’ cat born without a bone in his nose.
Judging by the nearly half a million fans on his IG feed @monty_happiness he’s certainly loved and admired the world over!
Rescued from a shelter in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of three, Monty was born without a nasal bridge but while this ‘chromosomal abnormality’ causes him to sneeze a lot, he is otherwise healthy and can breathe normally.
Meet the pawrents – Mikala & Michael. This adorable couple support Monty in his noble quest as an ambassador for “crooked” cats everywhere…or in their words, “Cats that may not look perfect in everyone’s eyes. We want to raise attention to the fact that looking different doesn’t mean you can’t be fantastic.“
During his time at the shelter, Monty shared a room with a group of unruly cats, but he always remained calm and composed even when they were aggressive with him. His friendly and gentle nature immediately struck Michael & Mikala who, when they first met Monty said, “there was no doubt in our minds that he was coming home to live with us…his special appearance makes him look so incredibly cute, but his personality is rare as a diamond!”
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Meet Monty – a cat with feline Down Syndrome” quote=”Meet Monty – a cat with feline Down Syndrome”]
Fast forward several years and today Monty is now a global spokescat in promoting shelter animal adoption and welfare. You might even say he has a nose for it! >^..^<
We had the opportunity to chat with Michael and Mikala and learn a bit more about Monty, but first check out this delightful video to see just how adorable he really is.
Here’s what Monty’s parents shared with us…
Q: What breed of cat is Monty?
Monty is a normal tabby house cat (domestic shorthair), but he was born with a chromosome abnormality similar to Down syndrome that affects his appearance.
Q: How is Monty around other animals?
Monty loves dogs! He loves to walk by our fence in the garden and tries to get their attention when they walk by. He doesn’t really care for cats, but he loves our neighbour’s cat, who is a little brown tabby girl! Every day, he sits by a little hole in the fence hoping to see her. When they see each other, they make the cutest little pigeon sounds, as if they are talking to each other.
Monty also has a cousin that is a bearded dragon that he gets along with really well!
Q: What is Monty’s favorite activity/pastime?
Monty LOVES to play and watch birds in the garden! His new favorite activity is to try to get us back into bed to snuggle with him! He will stand in the bed, meowing loudly until we join him! He also loves to play hide-and-seek with Michael.
Q: What is Monty’s favorite food?
Monty is on a special diet for his kidneys, but he loves his vet and dry food. His absolute favorite though is ginger snap cookies, even though he’s not allowed any! We can’t even eat them in the house because Monty will try to steal them! Even right out of our mouths!
Q: Does Monty have any unusual habits/behaviors (non medical) that surprised you?
Oh yes! He has a very special personality and literally acts like a kitten! Monty will never grow up! He is extremely dependent on us, but is definitely a daddy’s boy! When we first adopted Monty, we had no idea a cat could become this attached to a human! Every night, Monty must sleep on Michael’s legs or in his arms the entire night. And, he refuses to go to bed if there is no blanket! Since it’s so hot here right now, we weren’t sleeping with the blanket, and Monty will literally wake him up to tell him to put the blanket back! Monty will also cry at the door if Michael is not home! He will cry for about 30 minutes, then lays down and waits by the door. He definitely prefers to come out with us, but we can’t take him everywhere!
Q: What’s the funniest thing Monty has ever done?
Haha, it’s impossible to only name one thing! But the latest funny thing he did was sitting on our robot vacuum cleaner while it cleaned the floors! I also find his adorable bunny hops outside really funny!
Q: What’s the naughtiest thing he’s ever done?
Monty has a thing about fake leather shoes and cannot resist scratching them!! He has ruined so many of our shoes and guests’ shoes when we forget to put them away. We also cannot have plastic bags laying on the floor or Monty will pee on it! He does use his litterbox, but he simply cannot resist peeing on a plastic bag!
And then there was the time he decided to run out the front door into the neighbors yard! We couldn’t find him for 10 minutes and were so scared! Of course we looked everywhere for him. We looked everywhere except just beside our house because we thought he had run far away but he was sitting right door while we were panicking! He had a blast making us panic!
Q: When did you start Monty’s IG & FB accounts?
We made a Facebook page for Monty just for fun around late 2014. We made his Instagram page around 2015 or 2016.
Q: Were you surprised at the incredible support and love he’s received from these communities?
YES! We had no idea that Monty would create so much happiness in this incredibly amazing cat community! We smile every time we look at him and it’s just amazing how it all started! Monty makes so many people smile every day; we couldn’t ask for anything more! We also use his platform to help cats in need, which we absolutely love doing! We are so lucky and so grateful to have made so many wonderful friends all around the world and to be a part of this amazing community! It is a dream come true!
Q: Are you planning any interesting projects or events in the coming months that you would like to share?
Michael and I are going to CatCon again this year, where we will have a Monty booth set up! We can’t wait to meet everyone! We will be traveling with a TV crew, who is making a documentary about Monty and us for the biggest TV channel in Denmark! So that will be fun! We also have some new Monty Jewelry to add to the collection! It’s coming out soon and we are so excited to see what people think of it!
Q: Is there a message you’d like to say to all your existing and new followers?
We would like to thank each and every one of Monty’s followers! Thank you for making us smile with your funny comments, sweet messages, and your incredible support! As Monty would say, “You are PAWSOME!” Always remember that “looking different doesn’t mean you can’t be fantastic!”
Summary
In March of 2018 Monty was diagnosed with epilepsy after having had a few frightening seizures. Mikala and Michael said, “This little, amazing boy has been through so much in his life, but we are always surprised at what a fighter Monty is!” Monty is still on epilepsy medication, but only a kitten dose. As of June 27th, 2018 Monty had been seizure-free for…. wait for it… 100 DAYS! Go Monty Go!
Monty, we wish you and your wonderful family lots of love, happiness and a meowgnificent, magical and healthy remainder of 2018 (and beyond)! Be sure to follow @monty_happiness and keep up with his daily antics and let’s all try to follow Monty’s lead and do our part to spread the ‘HAPPINESS!’
Loved reading about you Monty and thank you Thepurringtonpost for introducing us to Monty. We love the adventurous Monty spirit shared and we can feel the Monty love for purrents and his “fans”. We will be visiting his IG page and we hope he will visit ours. Purrs from Bizzy @bizzibabs_pra_siamese – a blind Siamese cat
Monty is a great kitty.thank you for adopting him.I have a Monty too he has a vision problem he sees triple.His brother was born without any eyes at all,I wanted to adopt him too but the lady that had all the kittens said her son wanted to keep that kitten, so I just got to take my Monty who is now 15 years old in human years,76 in kitty years.
I adore Monty and his stories. But more than that – I love how much you both love him. We have a boy – Chick Savoy who is a Daddy’s Boy too. I had never seen this either but he adores my husband and waits if he goes out for too long. Nuzzles and rolls and cozies him on the bed. It is delicious to watch. Monty is so adorable and so lovely I am quite infatuated. Long may he live and in the love of your home.
When can I purchase Montes Jewlry
https://montyboy.net/ I subscribe to the email, so I had it handy to forward to you.
I love Monty!
Loved reading about you Monty and thank you Thepurringtonpost for introducing us to Monty. We love the adventurous Monty spirit shared and we can feel the Monty love for purrents and his “fans”. We will be visiting his IG page and we hope he will visit ours. Purrs from Bizzy @bizzibabs_pra_siamese – a blind Siamese cat
Thank you for sharing this story. I’ve never heard of the syndrome Monty has. I have a nephew with Down’s Syndrome so your story hit close to home.
Monty is a great kitty.thank you for adopting him.I have a Monty too he has a vision problem he sees triple.His brother was born without any eyes at all,I wanted to adopt him too but the lady that had all the kittens said her son wanted to keep that kitten, so I just got to take my Monty who is now 15 years old in human years,76 in kitty years.
Nice to meet Monty, he is a cutie.
I adore Monty and his stories. But more than that – I love how much you both love him. We have a boy – Chick Savoy who is a Daddy’s Boy too. I had never seen this either but he adores my husband and waits if he goes out for too long. Nuzzles and rolls and cozies him on the bed. It is delicious to watch. Monty is so adorable and so lovely I am quite infatuated. Long may he live and in the love of your home.