Felix, Who Loves Companionship: Huntington Adoptable Pet Of The Week

HUNTINGTON, NY — Felix, a 9-month-old male kitten, arrived at the Grateful Paw Cat Shelter in early June.

He was either abandoned or tossed out of a car on the Southern State Parkway and left to fend for himself at only 5 weeks old, said Debbi Larkin, president of the shelter.

"How can people be so cruel?" she said.

Felix was a handful when he first went into foster care, according to Larkin.

"He was all hisses, spitting, growling and swatting. But considering what he had just been through it is not the least bit surprising. With lots of love and attention in his foster home he finally settled down and relaxed."

Felix had other kittens, cats and dogs in the foster home so he was exposed to lots of activity and socializing.

Felix entered the shelter mid-summer 2023 and was placed in the kitten room where he made lots of friends with the others, Larkin said.

There were times when he was nervous around people so his 'safe place' was the condo where he could stay in the background and observe, she said. He loved to play 'chase' with the others and carry either a toy mouse or a ball around the room. He would always show off his climbing skills on the condos.

Felix is still at the Grateful Paw waiting for his forever home and his "person" to come rescue him, Larkin said.

"As we started to fill up the kitten room with babies much younger than Felix, we saw that he was getting a bit overwhelmed by all of the people coming in and out of the room, so we decided to move him and two others into a much quieter room where he might not be overlooked," Larkin said. "He has really shown his personality since the change and that has been good because he still has the 'kitten' personality..after all, he is only 9 months old so we consider him a baby until close to 18 months."

Felix has the "most expressive" yellow eyes that tell a story, Larkin said.

"You can only imagine what that is when looking at him. He still loves to play with all of the toys in the room and can be seen carrying any one of them from condo to condo. He is always engaging with some of the younger cats in that room and they all can be seen playing tag and showing off their climbing skills, especially with the newly donated condos in the room. He may be shy when you first approach him but once you start with the petting and head scratching and chin rubbing the motor starts and doesn’t stop! Felix would most likely do best in a home with another cat (we have some here at the shelter who are his buddies) or a dog. He loves the companionship."

Felix has been fully checked by the shelter's in-house veterinarian, tested negative for FELV and FIV, had all of his vaccines, checked 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 been waiting almost 8 months to connect with his forever person or people.

"Wouldn’t you love to be the one to help him gain his complete trust back with regards to humans? He deserves to be shown what love is really like," Larkin said.