Les Seaman, specialty assistant store manager in Hicksville, New York, didn’t anticipate building a walker for a cat named Ozzy on a random Friday in March.
But when his store received a call about a local woman needing assistance, management knew he was the man for the job.
This all stared when Susan Smith shared a post with her 95,000 followers on Instagram about her desire to construct a walker for Ozzy, a four-year-old cat with cerebellar abiotrophy. She’d seen other cats use walker prototypes and figured it would be really beneficial for Ozzy, who can’t use his front legs, which bend inward.
“I’m just trying to keep him as comfortable as possible,” Susan explained.
Susan has seven cats – all with various disabilities – and her many passionate followers quickly offered suggestions. One recommended she ask Lowe’s for help. Lowe’s saw that mention, placed a call to the store in Hicksville, and moments later Les was on it.
“My store manager came to me and said he knew something like this would be in my wheelhouse,” said Les, who has three cats of his own. “I basically tried to reverse engineer what I could from a photo to build a similar device for her cat.”
Les talked it out with some colleagues and came up with a plan to use half-inch PVC pipe and canvas painter drop cloth. He also incorporated Velcro strips so the height could be adjusted, and a fellow associate applied some “Lowe’s blue” paint for a finishing touch.
All told, the project took “an hour or two” to complete.
The next day, Susan got a call from Lowe’s informing her Ozzy’s walker was ready for pickup.
“It really shocked me. I was overwhelmed with emotion,” Susan said. “It was the very next day! I couldn’t believe it.”
“It was a simple thing for us to do and it made her happy,” Les said. “It’s a great feeling to be able to do something and have someone show so much appreciation for it.”
Susan shared the news on her Instagram and has since been posting videos of Ozzy using his new walker, which has helped him eat and allowed him to have all fours on the grass.
It’s the kind of wholesome content everyone loves to see.
“Lowe’s is so hands-on. They are very, very helpful,” Susan said. “So many people wrote how much they love Lowe’s! They were so touched about the whole situation.”