Filmmaker Adam Green rescued W. Axl Rose the Cat from a Boston, MA animal shelter in 1997. When Green and Axl first met, Axl was mere hours away from being put to sleep. A fully grown adult cat with a grade four heart murmur, Axl also had a mental handicap that the shelter's veterinarian described as "Feline Down's Syndrome" though that is not a clinical medical term. Axl did not possess basic feline instincts such as cleaning/bathing himself and could not be trained to comprehend or use a litter box. Although the shelter's vet suggested that Green consider adopting one of the many healthier homeless kittens instead, Green had bonded with Axl instantly upon meeting him and knew that the troubled cat had an incredibly slim chance of being rescued given his condition. Despite Axl's handicap the cat flawlessly performed every action required of him on screen in Green's 2000 debut autobiographical film Coffee & Donuts.
