Sprout & Shadow: Bonded Pair Domestic Short Hair Mix Clayville, RI

STILL WAITING FOR THEIR FOREVER HOME: Spritely little Sprout and her mama Shadow are still hoping to find a home together, and need your help. Sprout is now 6 months old and getting very active and has outgrown the nice bedroom she shares with mama Shadow in her foster home. We only have a few weeks to find them a home before they will have to come back to the shelter in mid-November and live in cages. And Sprout has not been in a cage since she was two weeks old!

She could not be adopted out as a baby kitten because she had a condition known as “flat chested kitten syndrome.” Her thorax was not developing properly, which compressed her lungs and made her breathing a bit labored. She was outfitted with two different corsets to protect her delicate rib cage and organs as she grew, and the corsets helped her ribs to form more normally. Though her ribs are still not quite “right” she is much better now, her breathing is normal, and she is able to enjoy a normal kitten life. Her mama stayed with her in foster care so little Sprout would have a companion, and they are now quite bonded, so we are still hoping they can find a home together. But if they come back to the shelter, they will have to be made available for adoption separately.

Sprout is a very happy and affectionate young lady. Though she is as playful as any kitten her age, a low-activity home is called for, one without young children or other young cats, which might cause her to over-exert herself. Her mama, who is a very subdued, gentle and sweet cat, makes for the perfect companion for Sprout — she just loves her baby and doesn’t play rough with her. Shadow is not a very outgoing cat, preferring to just lounge happily with Sprout or be entertained by Sprout’s antics. She is happy to be picked up and placed on a lap to get some loving, but in foster care she hasn’t been the kind of cat who demands attention. Once she’s in a nice quiet home with more space, we expect her to feel much more comfortable.

There are no special medical needs for Sprout — no medications, no special food, and no surgery indicated. But because her lungs are still somewhat compromised, she can’t be spayed until a vet determines her lungs are functioning well enough for her to undergo anesthesia. She should be reassessed by a vet when she is one year old.

Sprout has received her rabies and distemper vaccinations. Shadow is spayed, up to date on vaccinations (including a 3-year rabies vaccination), and tested negative for FIV and feline leukemia. Sprout is now 6 months old, and Shadow is a little over two years old. There is no adoption fee — all that is required is a loving, quieter home for Sprout and Shadow.

If you think you can provide the right home, please email ClayvilleCritters@cox.net for more information and an application, or call the shelter at (401) 647-7200 to have your contact information shared with her foster family, who will contact you promptly. Applications must be submitted before visits in the private foster home can be scheduled.

An application can be emailed to you, or you can access a downloadable application by scrolling down the Town of Scituate’s Animal Control page at http://www.scituateri.org/departments/animal_control/

Please email all PDF applications to ClayvilleCritters@cox.net for faster processing.