Chance

Gender Male
Breed DSH
Color Orange
Markings Tabby
Personality Friendly Feisty
How I Feel About Children Not Comfortable
How I Feel About Dogs Unknown
How I Feel About Cats Not Comfortable
Age 26 years

Chance

“Chance” has a name well-suited to his history, and he’s an example of good intentions gone very wrong indeed. As far as we can determine, he was abandoned by a tenant who had left an apartment building. The building’s landlord or janitor (we’re not sure which), not wanting to see the cat out on the street, decided to keep him indoors–in a basement. Chance was fed daily, but he spent over ten years in a dimly-lit basement with virtually no interaction with any other creature, human or otherwise. By sheer coincidence, a heating oil contractor, making a delivery to that basement, saw the cat and asked about him. The result? Chance, mercifully, now lives with us.

He’s a good-looking orange boy, probably born early in 1998. Because of his many years in a poorly-lit area, his pupils do not constrict. He has experienced some loss of vision, but there’s no way to tell exactly how much (we do know he can see to a degree). As you might imagine his prior life did little to help him develop his social skills. He can be very sweet with people, and he is doing better with us than he was initially. Chance also does not tolerate other cats very well. In addition, he is in early renal failure. Note, though, cats with early renal failure can go for many months, even years, before the condition progresses.

A perfect example of the Tabby’s Place mission of rescuing cats in hopeless situations, Chance has lived through the equivalent of long-term solitary confinement. Obviously, he will require an adopter with a lot of patience and one who is willing to work with his multiple issues.

Update as of 3/14/10: Even in the short time he has been in our lobby, Chance has made amazing progress. He will come over to you to seek attention sometimes, and he enjoys being petted on the head. He can still be a “grumpy old man”, particularly around other cats, but we’re very encouraged by what we’ve seen so far.