Young male looking for a family to love him
By James Churchill
Scotty, shown here, was going to Joan Fillier's doorstep to eat food that was laid out on her porch. Photo contributed by Joan Fillier
A male stray cat who has been homeless for the past few years was being fed by a local resident in Conception Bay South in N.L. until the weather became very cold and the cat became very sick.
Joan Fillier called the Heavenly Creatures, a no-kill animal rescue centre in St. John’s, and told the volunteers there about this sick stray cat. Fillier was told by the president of Heavenly Creatures to bring the stray into the vet. Heavenly Creatures hopes to raise enough money to cover the bills. On January 24, that’s exactly what Fillier did.
“When I dropped him off to the vet that Tuesday, I cried when I walked away,” Fillier said. “I knew he was going to be in a better place and I did the right thing. I knew he wasn’t going to be put to sleep.”
Fillier named the cat Scotty because she lives on Scott’s Road North in C.B.S. But now that he is in the vet hospital, Scotty has a new name.
“We wanted to put a name on him before he entered the hospital, so we named him Scotty,” Filler said. “But then apparently one of the veterinarian assistants, like a lot of them, took to Scotty, but one in particular decided to change his name to Hugo because of the recent movie.”
The vet diagnosed the cat with highly contagious cat flu and quarantined him there for two weeks. He got the flu because of his low immune system. The doctors are treating him with eye cream and antibiotics.
“I just visited him on the way home from work; my God he is some lovable. He is getting all better,” Fillier said. “He is very playful, and he is just very lovable. He just wants to rub against ya. He is going to make a perfect pet to somebody.”
Fillier would’ve adopted Scotty but she already has three former stray cats living in her house.
“I can’t keep him because I already got three cats, one that I recently rescued in December, “Fillier said. “Now I have to cover vet bills for three cats, which were all strays, and I couldn’t help this little feller, so I just had to plead with the Heavenly Creatures, and thank God they were able to help us.”
Fillier gets upset whenever she finds or even hears of a cat being stray.
“It’s a sin to see them out in the cold and in the poor weather. I hate to see them suffer. .. They are living beings and they deserve to be loved. They’re not disposal things,” Fillier said. “Therefore, I’ll feed anything that’s around my door.”
Jessica Rendell, the president of the Heavenly Creatures, was more than pleased to hear that Fillier called Heavenly Creatures and informed them of Scotty’s situation.
“He is in our care. We are paying to board him,” said Rendell. “He is not ready to go anywhere for another couple weeks, until February 9 or 10.”
Scotty is in the hospitial after two weeks of treatment. He still has a week until he is fully cured. Photo contributed by Heavenly Creatures.
The vet is charging Heavenly Creatures $33 each day Scotty is at the hospital being cured. Rendell is expecting the bill to around $1,000, which includes his being neutered.
“He is on our website now and we are going to post him up on our Facebook group as well to try to raise donations for him,” said Rendell.
Nine days after being admitted to the vet, Scotty has come a long way. By February 10, Scotty should be ready to be welcomed into a foster home.
“If anybody is interested in fostering, adopting or donating to his care, they can certainly call us at (709)-739-0077,” said Rendell.
People who are interested in fostering or adopting Scotty, or in donating to his care, can go to the Heavenly Creatures website to get a further description of Scotty.
