Staff

Elliot  
Resident

Resident

Sometimes we have animals brought through our doors that just reach out and grab hold of the hearts of all who are here.  Elliot is one such example.  In early November 2003, the Green Bay Police brought a tiny, 12 week old kitten to us.  He was very cold and could not use his rear legs.  Once he was stablized, an x-ray revealed that he had a pellet lodged in his back by his spine.  Elliot was brought to the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center to have surgery in an attempt to remove the pellet and regain some, if not all, of the use of his rear legs.  Unfortunately, the damage to his spine was too severe to reverse.  But, the hair and bone lodged in one of the bones of his spinal column was removed.

Elliot was brought back home to Bay East, to become one of our three resident kitties.  Due to his impaired spinal cord, Elliot is unable to urinate on his own and requires help several times each day to do so.  It truly is not as difficult as one may imagine.  Elliot has always been an inquisitive and stubborn guy.  Due to the fact he would not walk again, we bought a wheel chair for him, which he promptly refused to use.  He would pout once he was strapped in, trying to convince anyone who would pay attention that the contraption was torturing him.  The icing on the cake was the day he ran full throttle under one of the doctor's desks whilst in the chair, launching himself out once his cart collided with the desk.  So, that was the end of the wheel chair; crazy boy prefers to walk by dragging his rear legs.  Anyone who was ever tried to catch him when he doesn't want to be held can attest to the fact that he can outrun a human with two good legs hands down.

Elliot loves to hang out in his cat tree in the doctor's office.  He also enjoys playing under the rear doors of the exam room with some of our feline patients.  Many times we have heard a chuckle from inside an exam room only to look down and see Elliot sweeping his front paws beneath the door.  Elliot does tend to be a little shy with people he doesn't know, so he sometimes hides when our clients try to say hello to him, but once he gets to know you, he's your buddy for life.  Elliot is our cat with special needs, helping to educate people that some adversities can be met and overcome with a little love and patience.