A kitten survives a trip through the wood chipper:

FORT LAUDERDALE — The little orange-and-white ball of fluff is a fighter.

Any kitten that survives a tumble through a wood chipper would have to be.

His meow would almost be pitiable if he weren’t so full of energy and spunk just two weeks after his rescuer and veterinarian debated whether his injuries were so severe that he couldn’t be saved.

The kitten’s head is tilted to the right, the result of a fracture to the neck. Both of the kitten’s front legs were badly broken, but he gets around, and his right eye appears to be functioning, even if it is damaged.

And just recently having gone to solid foods, he wolfs down his meals, a positive sign.

"I think his food bill is going to be more than his surgery bill," said Dr. Salvatore Zeitlin, who operated on the kitten, dubbed Chipper, three times after he was taken to his South Dixie Animal Hospital in West Palm Beach. "He just gets stronger."

Maury Swee of Boca Raton, who runs a no-kill shelter, the 10th Life Sanctuary, said he got a call from an anonymous woman June 20. The woman said a kitten had been asleep in a wood chipper that was turned on by workers. Would Swee help?

Swee said he met her and rushed the bloody kitten to the animal hospital.

"This little kitten has pretty much used up his nine lives," Swee said.

When held, Chipper purrs happily. Swee and Zeitlin said the kitten would make a good pet.

In a few weeks, when Chipper is stronger, he will leave the clinic. "Then we have to find a special home for him," Swee said.