Darling calico Chickadee is a four-year-old sweetheart who was rescued from a shelter. Chickadee’s story should have been simple: lovable cat adopted by a wonderful person in her very own forever home. But there’s more to her story than that – in fact, with Chickadee it seems like there’s always a little more than meets the eye.

When you first meet Chickadee, you’re immediately drawn in by her open, inviting gaze. You can almost hear her say, “come pet me!” When you oblige, however, you get some seriously mixed messages. This is one quirky kitty! When she first arrived at Tabby’s Place, Chickadee would purr and growl at the same time. At first we thought that she just didn’t like having to stay in a cage during her quarantine period time. While that was definitely part of why she growled, some of those funny habits have stuck around even now.

Since moving to the Community Room, Chickadee has definitely mellowed out and clearly craves human attention, but she still makes some funny noises. She’ll chatter as you pet her, the remnants of her purr-growl tendencies, but we’ve learned by now that she means no harm. We think Chickadee just didn’t have the opportunity to learn normal social skills, so she made up her own rules! She’s also taken a few lessons from the other cats in the Community Room about how to relate to people. She’s fairly standoffish with the cats, but she has learned from watching them that people can be trusted. Now she’s one of the first to say hello when you come to visit.

It’s not just Chickadee’s unusual social skills that make her stand out, though: she has cerebellar hypoplasia (CH). Chickadee was born with CH; she most likely developed this neurological condition when her mother was exposed to distemper (or the distemper vaccine) while pregnant. Cats with CH have an underdeveloped cerebellum – the part of the brain that controls motor skills – so they lack coordination. Chickadee has a mild case of CH, and can climb and jump comfortably, but she has an awkward gait that’s hard to miss.

Between learning how to act like a well-mannered girl, training us to cater to her moods, and learning to navigate her new home, wobbles and all, Chickadee has gone through a lot of changes in the last few months – and she’s come through with flying colors! We’re so glad to be able to give this sweet and saucy kitty a home where she can wobble and purr-growl to her heart’s delight. In fact, stop in to visit, and you may find a cuddly calico in your lap in short order. Won’t you consider sponsoring our quirky Chickadee?