Zimes was just one month old when he was attacked (Picture: Margot Tamar Riemer)

Adorable Zimes has a unique face.

The cute little black cat’s tongue pokes out of his mouth – and he can’t put it back in.

It gives him an adorable, cheeky expression – but Zimes’s unusual face is actually the result of a brutal attack by a pitbull that happened when he was only a month old.

‘The girl who rescued him rescues animals in need all the time, and she got a call about a guy who releases his pitbull dogs to kill stray cats, for fun,’ says Zimes’s owner Margot Tamar Riemer.


‘She went there and said it was a massacre, there were cats dead with missing limbs, many injured and many did not make it as well. My Zimes was one of them,’ she explains.



‘When I think about this story, it makes me cry because I cannot understand how someone can be so cruel. It is pure evil to do something like this.

The vets say his condition doesn’t impact his health (Picture: Margot Tamar Riemer)

‘Zimes made it, and I am so grateful that he did. I have no idea if they caught the guy with the pitbull or not, but I hope they did. He deserves to be in prison.’

Zimes survived the attack, but he lost half of his lower jaw, which is why his tongue hangs out like that.

When Margot, who is from Israel, first got Zimes when he was three months old, he was still injured from the attack, but his mouth looked normal. It was only after a month or two that Margot noticed that his tongue was starting to poke out.

‘I felt like he was still adorable and the only thing I wanted was to protect him,’ she says. ‘I adopt cats with special needs, it’s what I love doing.’

Margot feels a special closeness to animals with disabilities because she has a serious illness(Picture: Margot Tamar Riemer)

Margot has cystic fibrosis – a serious, life-limiting lung illness – and she says her illness gives her a special affinity to animals that need extra care and attention.

‘I know what’s it like to be different and not to be accepted,’ says Margot. ‘I know that if I were a cat that needed treatment and care, I would be left at the shelter and no one would want to adopt me.

‘I feel like rescuing those cats, in a way, rescued me.’

She says the love that she gets from Zimes is incredibly special and she doesn’t regret one thing about bringing him into her life.

‘He has the soul of an angel, sometimes I feel like he is a little human’ (Picture: Margot Tamar Riemer)

‘In my experience, the animals who were the most neglected, sickest, the ones with special needs and nobody wants, feel it,’ she says. ‘And when you open up your heart to them, they will love you and be forever grateful. They give you pure love.’

She adds these animals accept you for who you are, and they don’t mind if you are sick, blind, deaf or missing limbs. She wants to pay them back with the same kind of unconditional love.

‘I was depressed before I got Zimes,’ says Margot. ‘But he became a light of hope for me, and I know adopting and rescuing an animal like him can give a person so much. When you rescue animals, it is not only for them, it also fills your soul with joy and love.’



Margot says Zimes is the best cat in the world. She says the two of them even communicate and she feels as though they understand each other.

‘When you rescue animals, it is not only for them, it also fills your soul with joy and love’ (Picture: Margot Tamar Riemer)

‘Zimes is so gentle, so loving,’ she says. ‘He talks to me all the time with his meows, he sleeps with me in bed, he never hisses, never attacks.

‘He has the soul of an angel, sometimes I feel like he is a little human. He is even kind to my other cats. He is super playful and goofy as well.

‘I think I love every little thing about this cat. When he looks into your eyes you can see his soul, he is pure. He makes me laugh all the time. He is incredible.’

The good news is that Zimes’s funny little tongue won’t cause him any health issues, the vet has just advised that he needs to be drinking plenty of water.

‘He eats normally and there is no need for reconstructive surgery because his condition does not bother him at all. I want to spare him vet visits because he really does not like going!’ adds Margot.

Zimes now has a huge fan base. Margot started a Facebook page to share pictures and stories, and more than 15,000 people have liked it.

And who can blame them? What’s not to like when it comes to Zimes?

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