We all know that cats can be complete troublemakers. Sometimes they leave "gifts" on the carpet, sometimes they completely destroy our favorite couch. But then there are naughty cats of a completely different caliber. One such cat is Quilty, a rescue kitty currently housed at Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization in Houston.
Turns out, this cat possesses a unique set of skills. And they all earned this feline a nickname... jailbreaker! Quilty is, apparently, an unstoppable force and caused the shelter a bit of trouble by letting all the other cats out of the senior room to roam loose around the facility.
Bored Panda interviewed a representative from the shelter, Jennifer Hopkins, who gave some spicy details on Quilty. The representative gave a brief introduction to how Quilty became, well.. Quilty:
"Quilty originally came to us as a kitten in 2012, with his mom and siblings. We use thematic naming for litters (example: the cheese litter, the tex-mex litter, the Harry Potter litter, the serial killer litter, etc.) and his litter was named after characters in the book Lolita; his mom was Lolita, and his littermates were Humbert and Charlotte. Quilty had been born in a closet, and even as a two-day old noodle, with closed eyes and ears, he was already beginning his a-holery. At one point he got separated from the litter, and his rescuer found him in another room under a table. He has had an "adventurous" spirit since the first days, literally."
This cat named Quilty recently caused plenty of trouble at a local shelter by letting all the cats loose
Here's how Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization representatives described the situation in their Facebook post:
"Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame.
"Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame.
Quilty loves to let cats out of the senior room.
Repeatedly.
Several times a day.
Repeatedly.
Several times a day.
We have since Quilty-proofed the cat room, while he took a brief hiatus in the lobby. His roommates missed him while he was banished to the lobby. They enjoyed their nighttime escapades around the shelter. The staff, however, did not miss the morning cat wrangling, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree there."
Jennifer also explained Quilty's trouble-making talents and how he returned to the organization:
"Quilty was adopted from us (in 2012) as a kitten. After being adopted and moving to a home, he quickly learned how to open the door to let his dog brother, Winston, inside from the backyard.
Unfortunately, a few months ago, his mom had to move and couldn't take Quilty with her. That’s when we got him back as an ‘owner surrender’ (that's when someone comes to us and asks us for help re-homing their animal) because his owner was moving, and couldn't take him with. As with all of our animals, if the adopter needs to return them for any reason, we take the animals back into our program (of course, we try to help them work through whatever issues they are having first, whether that means help with resources like food/vetting, or behavior consultations). We worked with Quilty's owner to try to find any way that they could take Quilty with, but nothing worked out, so he ended up coming back into the Friends For Life program to find his new forever home. We have a lifetime commitment to the animals that go through the Friends For Life program, so if any of them ever need to be returned for any reason, we take them back in with open arms."
The woman also stressed that while their organization is rather tolerant, they would never tolerate anyone shaming the owner for re-homing Quilty.
"Quilty quickly acclimated to the cat room here at the shelter, and, APPARENTLY, learned how to open the door (which was most likely child's play, since he had round doorknobs at his old home, and we have lever handles). We'd come in in the morning and all of the cats from that room would be not in said room anymore... cat wrangling would ensue. It wasn't until we saw it on the cameras in that room that we learned Quilty was the culprit. (Unfortunately, that original footage has since been recorded over but we had numerous chances to watch/film him doing it with us there.) We are super innovative (and budget-conscious) at the shelter, because we use our resources effectively, and so we employed a broom and some string to lock the door shut. We've since installed a Quilty-proof lock on the handle, which is friendlier for visitors. After that, he would still sneak out at least 5 times a day behind volunteers/visitors who would go into the room. He simply cannot be contained. Did we mention he has no shame?"
They continued by giving more details on Quilty's troublemaking talents:
"Apparently this is not a new skill he learned here at the shelter; he used to let his dog sibling in the house at his old home."
"Apparently this is not a new skill he learned here at the shelter; he used to let his dog sibling in the house at his old home."
The organization then urged people to adopt him ASAP:
"If someone out there is looking for a clever cat that gets along with dogs but does not get along with closed doors, we have someone they really need to come and meet.
"If someone out there is looking for a clever cat that gets along with dogs but does not get along with closed doors, we have someone they really need to come and meet.
Please. Come meet him. And take him home. Please..."
To potentially win some hearts over, the people behind the adoption efforts even wrote a short description of the kitty. Although it was penned before he turned to a life of crime.
"What is the coolest cat name you’ve ever heard? I think my name, Quilty is the winner! I love my name almost as much as I love a CLEAN litter box and sunning on the balcony. As much as I like getting pets, I really don’t like to get belly rubs.
I’m a smart, energetic, laid back fella, but I can be a bit shy. If you have a friendly dog at home that is OK with me, but I’m not sure about young children. I’ve never played with them before, so I don’t know if I like them. I do know that I like to open closed doors. When I see one it challenges me, and I work hard to get it open and I’m usually successful.
Remember the name Quilty and schedule a Meet and Greet with me. I’m ready to go to your house for a sleepover and I’m ready to stay forever."
As their original Facebook post gained traction, collecting over 18k likes and 14k shares, the organization decided to promote Quilty on other social media and created not only a hashtag #freequilty but also an entire Instagram page dedicated to the 'criminal' cat. Quilty already has around 18k followers after the Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization representatives took their time to upload 40 posts. Hey, maybe you should give him a follow? That is, if you're into bad guys, of course!
