Scotty Domestic Short Hair Mix Clayville, RI

PLEASE NOTE: We have approved an application for Scotty, and his potential adopter will first meet him Thursday, November 19. If interested, in the event it doesn’t work out, please read on!

Scotty arrived at the shelter in mid-August with what appeared to be upper respiratory infection, so he received two rounds of antibiotics for that, but continued to sneeze excessively, even though he was otherwise healthy. So a round of cultures was done, with no positive results, and a new antibiotic and nose drops were prescribed, which he endured for another month. Still no improvement, so another round of more extensive cultures were done, and just about every common, contagious cause of cat sneezing was ruled out. By process of elimination, the vet recommended he be treated for bartonella, which is difficult to turn up on a culture, and Scotty went into foster care and started on the antibiotic specific to bartonella in early November. He showed remarkable improvement — still sneezes sometimes, but not nearly as often or as vigorously as before. He will need to continue receiving one dose of the antibiotic every other day into December to really knock out the virus. But he’s such an affectionate and playful cat that we hope to get him into a home sooner rather than later, given the months of confinement this great cat has already endured.

It’s a good thing he is such a happy, good-natured cat, as he suffered through two months in isolation at the shelter receiving antibiotics, which is not an ideal situation for a cat that craves companionship like Scotty craves it. He has now spent three weeks confined to one room in his foster home, where he’s happy to have the extra room to play and stretch his legs, but he knows he’s still in some sort of confinement, and lives for the several times each day his foster family comes in to spend time with him. He most loves his after-dinner visit each night, when he curls up in his companion’s arms and just unloads buckets of purrs. He’s very much like a dog — a real sidekick, wants to be your buddy, and will even grab your hand with his paws and draw it to his head and cheeks to pet himself. He loves nuzzling his humans, and hops right up for some lap time when beckoned. Whenever his friends come in for a visit Scotty does his own version of the “highland fling,” a happy little toe-tapping dance, waiting eagerly for his companions to say, “Hop up, Scotty!” so he can get his pets and kisses.

Scotty was fine with the foster family’s cat that he met, and didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the shelter dogs he saw, so he should enjoy living in a home with other pets. He would probably love to live in a boisterous home with children — he’s an equal-opportunity loverboy and has yet to meet a human he didn’t like. He would thrive living with a big, happy family who will give him plenty of love.

Scotty is estimated to be 1 year old, is neutered, box-trained, current on vaccinations, tested negative for FIV and feline leukemia, and received de-wormers and flea treatments. Adoption fee is $50. Fee may be paid by credit card or money order, payable to “Town of Scituate.” Personal checks are accepted from R.I. residents only, and no cash is accepted.

Please remember that Scotty is in foster care right now, so you can’t visit him at the shelter. For more information or an application, email ClayvilleCritters@cox.net, call the shelter at (401) 647-7200 to have your phone number passed along to his foster family, who will promptly contact you. You can also access a downloadable application by scrolling down the Town of Scituate’s Animal Control page: http://www.scituateri.org/departments/animal_control/

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