Ivy was born with a cleft lip and palate condition. At just two years old, she has undergone various operating rooms and her parents gave her a cat with the same condition as hers to face the process together.
It is a unique sensation when two people in the world understand each other, because they think the same thing, feel the same or even face the same problem. Sometimes the other pair is not necessarily a human, but in the case of little ivy, it is a kitten.
Ivy Cusack is a 2-year-old girl who was born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate. When her mother, Caitlyn, was pregnant, she was informed that her baby would be born with this condition, which gave her time to prepare.
Although a cleft lip is a feature that is fully correctable through surgery, it cannot be done right out of the box, so Ivy would have to wait and learn to live with her upper lip atrophy.
Ivy’s first 18 months weren’t exactly easy. The little girl had to undergo innumerable surgeries to correct the condition that affected her. At that same time, the girl began to bond with the kitten in her home and her parents decided to adopt another that is younger for her, so that they were on a par.
As it turns out, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) told the story of a kitten named Sargent Pepper, born with a cleft lip and palate.
Cusack told Daily Paws:
I had seen similar stories online [about animals with cleft palates] but I didn’t know how common this was,” she says. “So when my best friend shared this photo, it was like a sign.
Thus came Sargent Pepper, the new furry friend for Ivy. But the magic is that Pepper and Ivy had more in common than she thought even though they were two totally different species. The cat, like the little one, has a cleft lip and a cleft palate. From the beginning they connected.
It was enough that Ivy only saw Sargent Pepper once, so that the two became inseparable friends. They have both been through the same thing since they were born, including surgeries. PAWS, a foundation for animal aid, funded minimal surgeries, so that, like Ivy, he would correct her condition.
The girl’s parents considered that if they adopted the kitten with the same condition as her daughter, she would feel identified and would begin to grow up learning that cleft lip is a totally common and common condition.
Now Ivy and Sargent Pepper spend their days watching television together on the couch while the little girl rests her head on her favorite pet. They are as one.
Images: Courtesy of Caitlin Cusack