Ragdoll kitten born with missing back paw pad and toe

Question
I adopted 2 ragdoll kittens from a reputable breeder over a year ago.  Sadly one of the kittens developed FIP and we had to put her down.  The breeder has offered me a replacement kitten.  If I am willing to wait for the "perfect" kitten to be born and pick color wise I can, OR - she has available in the color I prefer a kitten that was born with no paw pad on her back leg and a missing toe.  She said so far the kitten (who was born in August) seems to be fine with it - walks on it normally etc.  Do you know if a cat can go through life comfortably with a missing foot pad? I would like to take her, but I worry that she will not be able to play, go up and down stairs, etc.  Financially I cant get myself into a mess of VET bills.  I just would like to know if a kitten with this disability, can live a normal life?
Thanks.

Answer
Misty,

To be brutally honest with you I have serious concerns about you taking any kitten from that breeder... To be the fact that you lost one of your babies to FIP is a big red flag. Kittens with birth defects can happen when two cats who are too closely related are bred. A kitten with FIP, then a kitten with a birth defect indicates that there are obvious problems with her cattery as well as her breeding program. I would consult your veterinarian for an opinion prior to agreeing to taking any other kitten from this breeder. I would expect that the kitten could probably live just fine with the missing toe and pad, but my concern is this: Those are the obvious defects... What could be hiding internally? I just don't want to see you get into a situation where your heart gets broken again, I've lost a rescued barn kitten to FIP earlier this year and I know how devastated you must be...

I've also had kitties with disabilities of varying sorts over the years and while some don't come with any extra vet bills others can be costly to care for over the long term... It's quite possible that the veterinarian would recommend amputating the leg that this kitten's defects are on depending on what a thorough exam would reveal about the kitten's use of the leg, how the foot appears when closely examined, etc... A 3 legged kitten wouldn't be any the worse for vet bills than any other purebred, however the surgery to amputate the leg could be costly should it be necessary now or in the future.

Ultimately the choice is yours but I would want a pretty thorough investigation of this kitten's overall health including ultrasounds of his kidneys, heart, and a complete blood panel showing the function of his internal organs and immune status to FIV and FeLV because FIP is often found in combination with one or both of these viral illnesses. If your kitten is positive for FIV he should probably have a pretty normal life expectancy with good nutrition and medical care, if he has FeLV you will want to have your older kitten tested as FeLV (feline leukemia) is highly contagious and can be transmitted through sharing food bowls, litterboxes, grooming each other, from mom to baby, etc.

I'm concerned that you could be walking into a minefield of issues that you weren't expecting or hoping to deal with.... This breeder may very well be reputable, but I will say this - my ragdoll breeder has a great record of healthy babies and adults, but she also operates a closed cattery meaning that she doesn't allow her mommies to be served by studs who don't live with her and she doesn't loan her studs out for servicing queens from other catteries. She also does genetic testing to ensure that her potential parents aren't carrying the gene for HCM (hypertropic cardiomyopathy which can be an issue in this breed). I guess the long and the short of it is that it sounds like this breeder may not be the best in the business and I'd hate for you to go through another nightmare with potentially high financial and emotional costs....

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali