Anna Sarfaty concluded that Hot Wheels’ paralysis was caused by a congenital malformation that caused her back legs to turn inward, leaving her without the muscle control to move them.

The team cleaned and bandaged her wounds and administered a regimen of antibiotics. Hot Wheels’ first couple of weeks in the care of the Best Friends medical team were largely about recovery and observation. To Kylie it was obvious: She would be called Hot Wheels. “She was so little, just like those tiny cars,” she says. “I figured that if she survived, she was going to need some wheels to help her get around.” That’s when she had an idea about what to name her. “I was watching her zoom around the exam table with just her front legs, and I thought it was interesting how fast she was,” says Kylie. Although her back legs were paralyzed and her prognosis far from certain, the tiny patient was not at all deterred. Kylie and veterinary technician Erin Karol spent much of that afternoon observing the new arrival and discussing a course of action. Inspiration strikes, kitten gets new name Once she was on the exam table, though, the tiny kitten gave the medical team a glimpse of what a fierce and determined girl she was, as she used her front legs to pull herself from one end of the table to the other with the speed of an Olympic sprinter. The little black-and-white kitten had extensive lacerations and open wounds on her lower body, and her back legs were completely immobile. The healthy-looking boys were moved into a comfortable area to await their exams, while the tiny girl was immediately taken to the clinic for medical evaluation. Kylie Melville, manager of lifesaving outcomes at Best Friends in Los Angeles, was on-site when three kittens –– two healthy boys and one underweight, injured girl –– arrived at the lifesaving center. In the case of a partially paralyzed but ever-so-spunky kitten from Los Angeles, the name she was given shortly after arriving at Best Friends proved to be not only wildly appropriate but remarkably prophetic. They call her Hot Wheels, and sometimes a name just fits.

Black and white kitten