Mercury the kitten has no front paws, charms the Internet

A two-legged kitten named Mercury has won over the Internet.

The friendly tabby cat from Oklahoma lost his two front paws after an unfortunate weed-whacker incident when he was just days old.

He was taken to the vet, who called on a family to bottle-feed the special-needs kitten. They fell in love with the determined little feline, named him Mercury and made him a permanent member of their family.

"We didn't know when we picked him up that he would be one of the kittens that would win a permanent place in our hearts, and while we have discussed putting him up for adoption we simply cannot part with him," Mercury's new owners wrote on Facebook.

Mercury quickly adapted to life on two legs, scooting around the house and defending himself against more aggressive four-legged cats.

"As he has grown we worked on different aspects of movement with him — pushing himself with his back legs, balancing in an upright position, jumping from various positions, moving on different surfaces, jumping from one place to another and so on. The more he grew, the better he got at each one, and he can now run on most surfaces, climb stairs, jump on to and off the couch, and balance better than almost any other cat," his owners wrote on Facebook.

"Mercury does everything other cats do — he plays with toys, he jumps, plays with other cats and dogs, sleeps on the bed, uses a litter box, and believes he is the king of the world and should be worshiped. We still encourage Mercury to move his body in his way, and try to get him to do as much as he can on his own — carrying him around and doing things for him does not help him be a strong independent cat."

Mercury's cute T-rex posture earned him plenty of fans around the world. His Facebook page, Raising Mercury, has more than 35,000 likes so far. Videos of the cat have racked up thousands of views.

When Mercury is fully grown, his owners will look into custom wheelchair options for the cat. They hope the resourceful kitten will help raise awareness of cats with disabilities and eventually become a therapy cat.