Cat of the week: Montana

Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).

In April of 2019, while out tending to her feral colonies, our favorite cat wrangler, Sandy D., came across this beaten-down and bedraggled, intact boy who had obviously been having a hard time on the streets. Suffering from a ruptured cat bite abscess on the left cheek, the 3-year-old (born in the spring of 2016) was a smelly, sticky, matted mess of draining pus and dead tissue. Graphic, but true.

Sandy brought kitty out to the clinic so that Dr. Jen could tend to his medical needs, and in doing so, the good doc discovered that he was FIV+ (no big surprise there); he also had a nasty toenail injury, greasy stud tail, major intestinal parasites and was downright filthy. After deep-cleaning not only his wound site but his entire body, Dr. Jen neutered him, got antibiotics and pain meds on board, dewormed and vaccinated him—he wasn’t ready to go into our program at Big Sid’s, but he was at least squeaky clean and feelin’ fine for his foster time at Sandy’s.

Although Dr. Jen is quite partial to the big boys she affectionately call ‘fat-heads’, it is a cryin’ shame that this darling, dapper fellow had to roam the streets a fully functioning, fighting male for so long. Given the fact that his face was in such rough shape when he arrived, Dr. Jen thought naming him Montana (think Scarface) was more than appropriate, though at his recheck exam three weeks later, his facial fur was growing in very nicely, covering the gooey grossness he was sporting when they first met. In fact, this sweetheart healed so remarkably well that to look at him now you’d never know what injuries he had once sustained.

Indoor life suits Montana to a ‘T’, and he has acclimated to his surroundings better than we all had anticipated, given his history. Here are some astute observations from our volunteers:

“Montana is a pretty laid-back guy, but does have a tendency to get a little upset at times if another cat gets in his way. He loves people, attention, and just hanging out in the windowsill. He’s a nice, big, solid boy and would make the perfect cat for a household with older kids who would know to respect his space.”

“Montana is a very chill boy. He doesn’t do much other than perch himself on a windowsill and watch birds all day long. He keeps to himself most of the time, but he doesn’t mind sharing his preferred perch with a cat or two, so he could probably live with or without a buddy. He’s not one to look for attention, but he is very accepting of love when you seek him out. He has a tendency to nip when he’s had enough of you, so he should probably go to a home without young children.”

Overall we are very pleased with his progress in the time we have had him—it’s not even three weeks after he became a Sid’s Kid that we are sharing his story. We are enjoying watching him transform into a silky, stunning (former) stud, but even more so, we are delighting in how happy he simply is enjoying his view of the world, now from the inside out. To see him lounge on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him, relaxing and soaking in the sun, accepting a gentle head scratch or back stroke brings us all so much joy; after all, this boy right here deserves all of the pampering he can get!