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Friend E-Mail Editor Living Cat gets second chance at a good life
Story Photos - Click to Enlarge
Ichabod adopted last year, sits on a table at the home of owner
Angela Romito, background. Ichabod was abandoned and survived in a
vacant apartment for about five weeks before being found.
Diane Cebula / Staff
Diane Cebula / Staff
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 By: Beth Jones   |     |   Story updated at 6:40 PM on Saturday,
March 24, 2007
A Maine Coon had been locked in a vacant Atlanta apartment for about
five weeks until the building's maintenance man discovered him Oct.
26. The cat hadn't had anything to eat and only toilet water to drink.

Gwinnett County Animal Control picked up the pitiful creature.

Shelton, executive director and founder of Furkids, a no-kill shelter
in Atlanta, heard the feline's sad tale that same day. She believed
the cat would almost certainly be put down.

It hurt her to think about an animal fighting so hard to live only to
be euthanized.

The next morning, Shelton called the facility. "Is, by any chance,
this cat still alive?" she asked.

Turns out, the kitty hadn't been put to sleep. He'd been quarantined
for 10 days after scratching an employee, according to Shelton.

Furkids arranged for an animal hospital to oversee the remainder of
the cat's isolation.

Maine Coons are typically large cats and can reach 22 pounds. Furkids
estimated this cat's weight should have been 15 pounds. He weighed
seven.

The veterinary staff made sure the cat got plenty of food and water
and treated him for an enlarged spleen, a fever and parasites.

After moving from the vet's office to Furkids, the cat quickly became
a favorite among the shelter's volunteers. Despite everything he'd
gone through, the cat ran up to new humans as soon as they walked
through the door, giving them wide "pet me" eyes. He had an unwavering
affection for lap time.

A volunteer named the cat Hero.

A love story

Angela Romito is finishing up her master's degree in entomology (that
would be bugs) at the University of Georgia.

She stayed so busy with her studies all fall, she decided she wouldn't
have time to visit her family in Ohio for Christmas.

Since she'd be staying put all month, Romito decided the time had
arrived to add a new cat to her pet family.

Romito, 26, already had Skyler, a Labrador and Australian Shepherd
mix, and Hope, an older calico, the kind of cantankerous feline who
might grace a human with her presence but would bite the hand of
anyone with the audacity to stroke her head.

Romito believes even grouchy kitties need companionship.

"I feel cats should live in pairs," she said.

Romito found several cats that interested her at Furkids.

One day in early December, she drove to the shelter.

Hero wasn't the prettiest cat at Furkids that day. His matted hair had
been shaved after his rescue and he was still so thin Romito could
count his ribs. But his gregarious nature shined through.

Shelton remembers Romito's face lighting up when she first met Hero.
(Hero's face might have lit up too but it was hard to tell with the
fur).

They made a love connection.

Romito took Hero home that night. She re-named him Ichabod, after the
schoolmaster in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." "I just really like
that name," Romito said.

Alas, grouchy Hope and Ichabod have not yet shared a spaghetti dinner
by moonlight a la "Lady and the Tramp."

Hope does, however, allow Ichabod to stand near her.

For his part, Romito hasn't noticed her new cat displaying any signs
of post-traumatic stress from his near-death experience. He's one
happy feline.

"You go, 'Wow, he has this personality despite the things he's gone
through,'" said Romito. "He's so outgoing."

Ichabod hasn't let go of one behavior he learned during his house
arrest, however.

He turns up his nose at his water bowl, preferring instead to sip from
the sparkling waters of le toilette.

"If I leave the seat down, he cries," said Romito.

If you go ...

Furkids celebrates its 5th birthday

When: 7 tonight

Where: Pavilion in Dunwoody

Cost: $50

On the net: furkids.org

A few Athens animal adoption agencies:

· athenshumanesociety.com

· athensclarkecounty.com/ animalcontrol/index.htm

· athenscaninerescue.com

Samantha Shelton couldn't get to sleep.

All night long she thought about the kitty. The survivor.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 032407

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