Awwdorable Rescued Kitten’s Facial Injury Earns Him The Name ‘Steven Tyler’

Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor

Jul 20, 2022 7:00 PM EDT

Kittens roaming the landscape may be dauntless in their pursuits of discovering the world with each of their tiny paws. However, sometimes tiny kittens can experience tiny falls that make a big impact, even justifying a name change.

On July 2, a tiny grey Tabby cat was found as a stray in Richmond, Virginia. Seeing the state of the little fuzzball, a concerned citizen quickly rushed the kitten to the local shelter for care has he had a dire facial injury. Veterinarians at the Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) determined that the weeks-old kitten suffered a "degloved chin," a condition where the skin covering the bottom jaw is pulled down because of an injury.

Story written by Alex Lemieux.

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"We see it every once in a while, said RACC Communication Director Robin Young. "It's where they've fallen and hit their chin really hard and it [the skin] separates."
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Robin explained that since the injury resulted in a "clean pull" from the kitten's chin, the injury may have been due to the kitty falling and landing on her face. Nevertheless, providing care to the kitten was nothing more than cosmetic surgery. Veterinarians had him stitched up quickly, and he's healing up fast to get back on his feet.
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The kitten arrived at RACC without a name. As the shelter's caretakers were brainstorming about a naming the kitty, Robin detailed that one of the staffers said "please name him Steven Tyler" because of the slight resemblance the kitten's stitches have to the rockstar's big smile.
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Yet, eight-week-old feline Steven Tyler doesn't have the showman personality of his namesake. The small grey tabby is rather shy as a newer addition to the RACC family. Robin, who has spent more time with him says he's "extremely sweet."
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Mr. Tyler wants a family that will spend time with him as he grows into an adult cat. While he lived a short previous life in the urban wild, he'd rather leave that in past. This indoor-bound kitten may also need some extra attention as his adventurousness may land him on the ground again, so carpets would be nice. Steven Tyler's injury shouldn't cause any long-lasting worries, though. His stitches will be a thing of the past soon, and he's already been cleared for adoption.

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