Surrendered “smelly cat” finally finds new home

Cats are surrendered to animal shelters due to any number of owner complaints: clawing up the furniture, fighting with other pets, not liking the owner’s new baby.

But for black-and-white Domestic Shorthair Lenny, who was rescued from a Rochester, New York, park in February and brought to the Scottsville Veterinary Hospital & Adoptions shelter, finding a forever home is something that eluded him for a very unusual reason.

Lenny is one gassy kitty.

Shelter staff thought they’d found a wonderful home for Lenny last month, but after only two days with his new family, they were back at the adoption center to return him.

“He farts all the time,” the family wrote on Lenny’s surrender form.

Lenny’s former owners even recommended the sweet but smelly feline might make a better outdoor cat because the frequency and stench of his intestinal emissions.

And yet once back at Scottsville, staff members like Adoptions Director Jessica Giehl haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. All they knew was that Lenny is a great cat.

“But since he’s been back here, there haven’t been any problems,” she tells the Democrat & Chronicle, “but we did still nickname him ‘Smelly Cat.’”

Determined to find this allegedly flatulent feline a forever family, Scottsville staff turned to their Facebook page, hoping to spread the word about Lenny.

“Hello!” the March 31 post begins. “I was returned today because I fart too much. I am hoping I can find a person who can love me even with my stinky farts. I am a 19-month-old neutered male and would love to be your smelly cuddle cat. I am very friendly and love to be petted and held. I even am wearing a tuxedo so I’ll look snazzy if you come to see me.”

More than 150 Likes and 220 shares later, the shelter’s social media site lit up with supportive comments for the positively bubbly Lenny. Many wondered why the owner didn’t try to work with Lenny’s veterinarian to find a better diet. But some simply pointed out how ridiculous it was to part with a pet because of something as trivial as gas.

“What a stupid reason to not give a cat a home,” one commenter wrote. “I have four dogs that fart — deal with it.”

“Best of luck to this handsome guy to find his perfect home with a lot of air fresheners,” another joked.

One Facebook comment came from a woman who might have found an even sillier reason for dropping a cat off at a shelter.

“Just as bad as a woman who returned a kitten to my mom because it didn’t match her carpet,” commenter Tina Korine Phillips replied on Lenny’s post.

Finally, the shelter’s efforts paid off. Lenny found his happy ending Monday when he was adopted by a friendly and decidedly not fart-phobic family.

Sources: Democrat & Chronicle, Scottsville Veterinary Adoptions Facebook page