The moment Wren Yoder arrived home with her new kitten, Puddles, something about the kitten seemed off. The shelter hadn’t mentioned anything wrong with Puddles, but Yoder noticed her affectionate kitten never reacted to loud noises or tracked toys with her eyes. Yoder wondered if 6-month-old Puddles couldn’t hear or see.
“[Puddles] convinced two veterinarians that she was deaf,” Yoder told The Dodo. “They would literally kick the wall behind her as loudly as they could, and she wouldn’t so much as blink.”
But after a few days with Yoder, Puddles looked up when Yoder talked to her, then meowed back. Her eye exam revealed nothing unusual, even though the sweet cat kept falling off the furniture if she got too close to the edge.
Yoder said vets figured little Puddles must have been in a serious accident that caused a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This would explain all of her quirks, like her blank stares and poor short-term memory. She also had a dislocated hip when she arrived at the shelter.
Through all of the testing and vet visits, Puddles remained totally unfazed. She sunbathes, loves hiding under blankets and watches birds outside, like any other cat. “She is such a sweetheart,” Yoder said. “[Her] favorite thing in the whole world is popcorn.”
And Yoder’s favorite thing in the whole world is Puddles.
Back in April 2024, Yoder and her fiancé went to their local shelter a few days after her first cat passed away. Immediately, she spotted a tiny black and orange kitten making biscuits with the newspaper on the floor.
She picked up the kitten, who began rubbing her face all over Yoder, almost like she was saying, “Please take me home.”
“It took all of 30 seconds before I told my fiancé to go do the adoption papers,” Yoder said. “I didn’t need to see any other cats. I couldn’t bear to leave her for even a second … I was already crying over her.”
Yoder named her Puddles because the kitten melted her heart.
At home, Puddles helped Yoder’s heart heal — and Yoder learned all of Puddles’ quirks.
“She doesn’t turn her head left or right,” Yoder said. “She rarely looks behind her … she just tilts her head backward and looks at you upside down.”
Puddles developed her own methods for dealing with her TBI. She slinks through the house along the walls, and when she needs to turn, she stands against the wall with her front paws and walks herself in the direction she wants to go.
“Life with her is always entertaining and full of love,” Yoder said. Puddles also has two cat siblings who are “quite protective of her.”
“They both love to cuddle with Puddles,” Yoder said. “They also make sure to give her extra grooming sessions, because Puddles isn’t the best at grooming herself.”
Yoder began posting about Puddles’ TBI on Instagram earlier this year, and the positive responses blew her away. “So many neurodivergent people see her quirks and relate to them,” she said.
Puddles is truly one of a kind. Whether she gets lost trying to find her automatic feeder or forgets where she’s going halfway through a journey, she never gives up. And Yoder is right there, ensuring “the love of [her] life” is well taken care of.
“She helped heal my heart in ways I never expected,” Yoder said. “She has so much love to give in that little body of hers.”
