Scat Cat is one of my all-time favorite cats to come through the shelter. He came in as a stray, and was initially able to be handled enough at least to get him in a cage. However, he proved to be quite feral the next day. And as a big, solid, muscular tom cat, nobody wanted to mess with him. He reminded me of Scatman Crothers' character in "The Aristocats." So I named him Scat Cat, and began quietly singing to him. It calmed him down enough that I could at least clean his cage without him flipping out, so that became our daily routine. "Everybody wants to be a cat, because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at..." Before too long, I could even pet him while singing to him. He still wasn't manageable by anyone other than me, so we had him neutered at the weekend feral cat clinic, where he also got his ear tipped so he'd be identifiable as fixed if he went to a barn home. When he came back, I gave him a stuffed animal to cuddle with, and continued singing and loving on him every day. Before long, he'd let any of the other staff pick him up too, and he went up for general adoption. His namesake tune was always his favorite. You could try singing something else to him, but he'd only roll over and flex his paws for that one. He got adopted, and is one that I always wish his adopters would have given us updates. I did love that Scat Cat!
Edit several years later! Scat's adopters came in a year after his adoption looking to get him a kitten. I had my doubts, but figured they knew him best and set them up with a frisky yet cuddly little boy. They let me know later that he immediately took that kitten on as his baby, and would get distressed if he couldn't find him! Last I heard, Scat and his kitten were still doing great.
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