Ike is a handsome brown tabby with the most unexpected (and soulful) deep amber eyes—they’re really startling! He’s on the large side and is a mellow, sweet boy; he’ll sit in your lap and purr, he likes tummy rubs, and other cats don’t faze him in the slightest. Our best guess is that he was born sometime in 2006.

Ike has a moderate case of cerebellar hypoplasia. He can feed himself, and he can get to a litterbox (though he’ll sometimes fall into it). However, he cannot jump or manage stairs. Ike lives in our lobby, where, unlike most of the other lobby cats, he causes very little trouble to anyone.

Not everyone can adopt a cat like this, of course, but we’re hopeful that the right person will come through our door (it only takes one, after all). With Ike’s good nature and gorgeous eyes, he’s very difficult to resist…

Update, 2/27/12: Ike scared us a few times by having episodes of severe lethargy, inappetance, and a low body temp. Each time this occurred we rushed him to the emergency hospital, so he could be treated and monitored closely, but his doctors were unable to determine the cause. After the third episode we checked Ike’s liver values and conducted and ultrasound, which revealed that Ike has a liver shunt. It turns out what was likely happening each time Ike got sick was that toxins were building up in his liver due to the liver shunt. Due to the location of the shunt it would be very dangerous to repair surgically. Fortunately, we’ve been able to manage Ike’s condition through a special diet and oral medication.