Months Later, Zippy Is Still Waiting For Someone To Earn His Trust: Huntington Adoptable Pet Of The Week

HUNTINGTON, NY — When Zippy first arrived at Grateful Paw Cat Shelter, he was skinny, filthy, injured and accustomed to surviving in a parking garage.

Months after Patch first featured the approximately 2½-year-old cat, much has changed.

Zippy has healed. He has made friends. He has discovered toys. He has put on enough weight that his veterinarian would now like him to cut back on dinner.

One thing has not changed: Zippy is still waiting for a home.

“There are some cats who arrive at a shelter with a story you can tell,” the shelter said. “And then there are cats like Zippy. Zippy arrived carrying a story that nobody knows how to tell.”
The white-and-tabby cat has unusually deep green eyes that volunteers say seem to hold “a thousand stories.”

Nobody knows how long Zippy had been wandering through the parking garage before he was rescued.

He was approaching people, seemingly looking for help, when the garage manager realized the skinny cat needed someone to intervene and contacted a local rescuer, according to Grateful Paw.

When the rescuer placed a carrier on the ground with food inside, Zippy did not need convincing.

“He bolted into that carrier,” the shelter said.

Only Zippy knows when he had last eaten.

When he arrived, volunteers described him as “a hot mess.”

He was dangerously thin, dirty and had a large wound on his neck.

Nobody knows how he was injured.

“But somehow, through all of it, Zippy remained a gentle soul,” the shelter said.

His physical injuries healed. Learning to feel safe has taken longer.

When Zippy first entered the shelter’s cat room, he approached the other cats even as they hissed and spit at him. Instead of fighting, Zippy backed away and gave them space.

Eventually, the tension faded.

Today, volunteers jokingly call him “the mayor of the room.”

He gets along with most of his feline roommates, though one female cat has apparently appointed herself his “personal critic.”

“She is constantly nagging at him like an old married couple, and Zippy has wisely decided that the best solution is simply to avoid her,” the shelter said.

Most of the other cats, volunteers added, appear to have made the same decision.

One of Zippy’s most unusual habits also remains. When he first arrived, he slept in litter boxes. Volunteers do not know where Zippy slept while surviving in the garage, but they suspect enclosed spaces made him feel protected.

Rather than force him to abandon the habit immediately, Grateful Paw gave him a litter box of his own and filled it with a soft fleece bed instead of litter. Zippy approved.

The box became his safe place near the doorway, where he can monitor everyone entering and leaving the room.
And he shares.

When another cat climbs into his special sleeping spot, Zippy simply finds somewhere else to rest.

“Perhaps he knows what it feels like to have nowhere safe to go,” the shelter said.

Another favorite spot is on top of the condos beside the window, where Zippy watches birds, squirrels, passing people and whatever is happening near the door.

He has also perfected what volunteers describe as a pretzel-like sleeping position, twisting sideways so he can look outside while continuing to monitor the room.

“We have no idea how he does it without waking up with a terrible cramp,” Grateful Paw said.

For a long time, toys did not seem to interest him. That, too, is changing.

His favorite is now a wand with a fuzzy worm attached.

“Watching him play is one of those little moments that makes you realize just how far he has come,” the shelter said.

Then there is food. Zippy sometimes stands directly in the food bowl while eating.

After spending part of his life hungry, volunteers suspect he may simply like knowing exactly where dinner is.

There is now a slight complication.

“Our veterinarian has informed Zippy that he is now getting a little bit on the chubby side,” the shelter said.

That means less food.

“We are not entirely sure how Zippy feels about this new development,” volunteers said. “We suspect he has opinions. Strong opinions.”

Zippy has also appointed himself to another shelter job.
Volunteers sometimes catch him watching his roommates use the litter boxes. If Zippy decides another cat has failed to adequately cover its business, he goes in afterward and finishes the job himself.

“Apparently, being mayor comes with responsibilities,” the shelter said.

For all the humor in Zippy’s personality, volunteers say potential adopters need to understand his boundaries.

He often walks over and rubs against visitors’ legs looking for affection, but Zippy decides when that affection starts and stops.

He remains hand-shy around his face and head.
When he is inside his sleeping box, people should wait for him to come out rather than stand over him and reach inside, according to the shelter.

“We don’t know” what may have happened to him before his rescue, volunteers said. “What we do know is that Zippy is telling us, in the only way he can, what makes him feel safe. And we need to listen.”

If he has had enough petting, Zippy may give what volunteers call a gentle “love nip” — without breaking skin or behaving aggressively — as his way of saying he is finished.

He also does not enjoy being picked up.

“Zippy makes the decisions about what activity he wants and how long he wants it to last,” the shelter said. “And honestly? After everything this boy has been through, we think he has earned that right.”

Grateful Paw is therefore looking for someone who does not expect instant trust or a cat who can be carried and cuddled whenever they want.

Zippy needs patience, space and someone willing to appreciate the milestones as they come.

Maybe one day that means graduating from his fleece-lined litter box to a traditional cat bed.

Maybe it means the first time he sleeps beside his adopter, fully relaxes or chooses a lap on his own.

“Give Zippy patience,” the shelter said. “Give him understanding. Give him a little space. And in time, he just might give you something priceless: his trust.”

Zippy is neutered, microchipped, fully vaccinated and litter-box trained. He has tested negative for FeLV, FIV and parasites.

After surviving a parking garage, moving vehicles, hunger, an unexplained injury and years spent simply trying to make it through another day, volunteers hope his next chapter is considerably quieter.

A warm bed. A sunny window. A fuzzy worm toy. A veterinarian-approved food bowl. Maybe a few squirrels outside.

And, most importantly, someone who understands him.
Those interested in meeting Zippy can call Grateful Paw Cat Shelter at 631-757-4517, email cats@laphuntington.org, contact the shelter through Facebook or visit him in the Purple Room.

The shelter is at 3 Verleye Ave. in East Northport and is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday evening visits from 7 to 9 p.m. are available by appointment.

“Zippy is waiting,” the shelter said. “And perhaps, somewhere out there, his person is waiting for him, too.”