'Mayor' Of The Cat Room, Felix: Huntington Adoptable Pet Of The Week

HUNTINGTON, NY — Felix, a 1-year-old male cat, is the Grateful Paw Cat Shelter's Huntington Pet of the Week.

"Sometimes a kitten will come into the shelter and you think they are going to be adopted before the others because of their looks or their personality…and sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way at all and that is the case for Felix," said Debbi Larkin, president of the shelter.

Felix arrived at the shelter last June when he was about 5 weeks old. He is still with the shelter a year later.

"Some of you may remember that he was the kitten that was tossed out of a car on the Southern State Parkway by Belmont Lake," Larkin said. "He was trapped by a local rescuer and brought to us immediately. He had some serious trust issues at first but he has really mellowed out since coming into the shelter."

Felix loves all of the other cats and kittens that are in the free roaming room with him, according to Larkin.

"He watches over everyone and he could very well be the 'mayor' of the room," she said. "He is always the first one at the door when he hears people out in the hallway, whether they are there to visit or they are bringing in the food plates. He always has to taste test everything first, but will step back to let the young ones get to the plate."

Felix loves to play with the others in the room and really interacts when people come in with the laser or the feather toy. He runs from one end of the room to the other but is always careful of the little ones who are learning to get out of the way. And if there are no humans in the room to interact with, he loves the mice and the spring toys…and they can always be found under the blankets or in the litter boxes when he is having "batting practice" by himself, Larkin said.

Felix also loves to sit on the top perch of one of the condos so he can survey his kingdom outside the windows or he can monitor what is happening down on the floor with the others. He also likes to show off his climbing skills on the condos and can be seen jumping from the floor to the top in one leap, which Larkin said is "very impressive."

He waits patiently for chin rubs and head scratching. Sometimes he may be shy when someone first approaches him, but once they start petting him, the motor starts. He rolls over and if the person petting him stops, he reaches out to pull their arm back to the business at hand, and that is paying attention to him.

Felix is a what would be considered a "cow cat" because of his white and black coloring, according to Larkin. He also has beautiful, expressive eyes that look like yellow glass marbles and they can hypnotize you if you stare into them long enough.

He has been fully checked by the shelter's in-house veterinarian, tested negative for FELV and FIV, had all of his vaccines, tested negative for parasites, litter box trained and neutered.

If you are interested in meeting Felix, you may call the shelter at 631-757-4517, email cats@laphuntington.org, visit the Facebook page or visit at the Grateful Paw Cat Shelter.

The rescue is at 3 Verleye Ave., East Northport, and visiting hours are Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

The shelter is also open from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday nights only for those who cannot make it during the daytime hours.

"Felix has seen most of his friends get adopted and he is probably wondering why he isn’t joining them," Larkin said. "He would do well with another cat in the house or maybe one from the shelter. I think he is just waiting for 'his people' to arrive and take him home. Since June is
National Adopt a Shelter Cat month wouldn’t it be great for Felix if he could finally leave the shelter and go home with 'his people'? He deserves that much in his life."