Puss Profile

Name: Scooter Shepherd-Howard.

Date Of Birth: 23/05/2009.

Alternative Names: Scooter McHooter, Scoot Mahoot, Badly, Fatty.

Appearance: Black and white, blue/green slightly boss eyed, paunch.

History: Scooter was born at the RSPCA’s Blackberry Farm in Buckinghamshire and whilst all his litter mates steadily grew he appeared very stunted and poorly. My friend and excellent veterinary surgeon Lucy Howard was in charge of treating him and eventually diagnosed him as hypothyroid, a very rare condition in cats where the thyroid glands in the neck don’t produce enough of the hormone thyroxin which regulates the metabolism. He was extremely stunted and appeared more like a 2-3 month old kitten, rather than the 5 month old he was when we aquired him. He had enlarged thyroid glands, baby blue cross-eyes, no adult teeth and very short legs. Being as Lucy is rather allergic to cats we took him on as a joint project, I took him home (for the weekend…) and Lucy started him on thyroxin tablets. He started to grow immediately, although it took until his first birthday for him to aquire his full set of adult teeth. He is now a beautiful boy and is extremely good for his thyroxin tablet every single day of his life. He has regular blood tests to ensure we are dosing him correctly.

Cuteness Rating: 10/10! He loves cuddles and doesn’t like being cold so often cuddles up on my legs and is prone to snuggly blankets. His head rubby and butting abilities are supurb particularly on my face and head and especially if there may be food involved.

Bad Habits: Chasing the girls, particularly Bella whom he bullies perpetually. So much so in fact, that he is now banned from going upstairs and we have a microchip catflap in the hall door so all other cats can get upstairs apart from him. He is aggressive to her in the fact that he stares at her non stop which for another cat is about as threatening as it gets. If you don’t want a cat to be friends with you then stare at it! He also eats stupid things. (See below)

Food: Hill’s Venison and Pea as he has a delicate tummy due to eating too many inedible things. A bout of cooked chicken bone eating lead to weeks of vomiting and having to have ultrasound scans. He loves carbohydrates which cats don’t have the enzymes to digest and he has a particular penchant for jam and yoghurt. Earlier on this year I had concerns that his thyroxin dose was wrong so we checked his T4 levels and no it was fine, he’s just a porky pig.

A backward entrance to an audience at a dinner party.

Hunting ability: 1/10. Crisp packets, large leaves, cooked chicken wings and Mars Bar wrappers are but a few of the successful hunts presented to me in the lounge with much caterwauling and self congratulation.