The story about neighborhood cat Clark Kent, the nearly dead feline rescued by our reader James last week, has touched a lot of people in West Philly and beyond. City Kitties and the staff at The Cat Doctor, which fought for the cat’s life, received donations from 40 U.S. states and countries like Australia, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, Israel, England, Netherlands, Singapore, Canada, and Russia.

We also were informed that designer Jen Roder created a special “Clark Kent” button (pictured) which you can buy for only $5. All proceeds from the button sale are going to support other cats and kittens in need.

This week’s dog is Shelly, a sweet adult pit bull/bulldog mix with some superpowers that have gotten her into a bit of a sticky situation at the shelter where’s she currently residing.

For example, Shelly can scale kennel walls in a single bound, which is fascinating to watch, but not so much if you’re looking for a nice, well behaved doggie to take home with you. Some of Shelly’s friends at the shelter have tried to explain to her that if an adopter wants a pet that can climb walls, they’d adopt a cat, not a dog – unfortunately, Shelly still thinks her kennel hijinks are entertaining. What this means for Shelly is that she needs to leave the shelter as soon as possible, so read on to find out more about what makes Shelly so special and worth saving today!

Shelly was found running loose in a junkyard, and the junkyard owner was nice enough to take care of her for a few days, in the hopes that her owners would come looking for her. Unfortunately, Shelly’s owners never came, and he was forced to bring Shelly to the shelter. At the shelter, Shelly is a staff and volunteer favorite because she is “near perfect”: friendly, gentle, and eager to please, knows “sit”, “down”, “paw” and “no”, walks GREAT on the leash, is crate trained and loves to just snuggle up next to you to escape the loud shelter for a bit. Being that she is very eager to please, it is very easy to train her and makes her simply a joy to be around.

She seems to like being around other dogs, and when she met another female dog that made it very clear she was not interested in playing with her, Shelly backed off appropriately and left the other dog alone. As far as our feline friends, Shelly did show some interest in cats during her cat test, so she would need to be retested with cats before she can go home with one.

Unfortunately, while Shelly’s an absolute doll once she’s outside, she does not like living in her kennel, and she’s becoming sad and stressed, and expresses her frustration in her kennel by jumping and barking. Shelly’s behavior in her kennel causes adopters to pass her by, and because she is less adoptable as a result of her kennel behavior, Shelly’s time is limited.

Now it is time for her to find her home for the holidays. Shelly’s adoption fee right now is only $20, and that includes her spay surgery, microchipping, and vaccinations – small price to pay for years of unconditional love! This is a wonderful opportunity to change an animal’s whole world for the better – please email Shelly’s pen pal at: lulu_todorov@hotmail.com to learn more about her, or stop by the shelter to meet Super Shelly today! The shelter is located at 111 W. Hunting Park Avenue. Phone: 267-385-3800.

Reader Susan would like to thank everyone who helped her find temporary foster homes for her cats after a devastating house fire in September. Two of her cats still need temporary foster care. Here’s what Susan wrote us in an email:

“A couple of months ago, some friends had posted a note for me on West Philly Local after we suffered a terrible house fire over at Springfield and St. Bernard. It was a call for help placing my cats who had survived the fire (sadly, we lost a third recently due to complications from the event) in temporary foster homes. The response was wonderful: I managed to place 8 cats in 8 separate foster homes: a minor miracle for anyone who has ever tried to find foster homes for animals. It was a huge relief for me, amid all the chaos and grief and stress surrounding the fire and the ensuing issues.

Needless to say, our house is nowhere near on the schedule for reconstruction originally given to us by the contractors (wrangling with the insurance and mortgage companies mostly to blame). As a result, I am now faced with needing to find new foster homes for two cats within the next week or so (of course, our house is nowhere near the completion date that the contractors originally gave us), and was wondering if you might know of any folks who would be willing to take a cat in for something like 4-6 weeks.

Habib, a 13-year-old neutered fat “creamsicle” cat (I call him that because he is orange and white), is very funny, friendly, and talkative, and his current foster parents love him, but have obligations to be away come mid-December and cannot continue to care for him. Martini is an orange tabby, neutered, about 6 years old, but FeLV positive. He has NEVER exhibited any signs of illness (he was minutes away from euthanasia as a tiny kitten in the ER at the Penn Vet Hospital, where I worked, when I whisked him home), so he appears to be a carrier of the virus, but it would be best for him to be in a home without other cats, or perhaps other cats who also have tested positive. Currently, he is sequestered in one room in a neighbor’s house (due to other resident cats), and cries a lot, and is very lonely. It breaks my heart. He is a true people cat and seems very depressed without human companionship.”

To contact Susan please email: susaniris[at]msn.com or call 215-435-5273.

Here’s one of the holiday volunteer opportunities. Project MEOW is looking for foster parents for their cats this holiday season.

Project MEOW adoptables (like Dewey, pictured) are nurtured in individual foster homes, allowing for personal assessments of their character, to make the best matches possible with their future forever homes. Project MEOW covers medical and health care, promotes the cat’s adoptable status, and reviews the adoption applications – you provide food, litter, toys, and most rewarding of all, the love and attention the kitty needs. Please contact projectmeowadoptions[at]gmail.com to meet your holiday cuddler, and give the gift of fostering.

Project MEOW is an all-volunteer, animal welfare group that humanely reduces the stray cat population in West Philadelphia through rescue, trap-neuter-return and building strong relationships with the residents who feed and care for stray cats.

The little orange tabby cat that a West Philly resident found lying half-dead in a gutter earlier this week is a fighter. That’s why the folks at The Cat Doctor, who have performed a blood transfusion, rid him of a nasty flea infestation and detected a piece of metal lodged in his colon, have named the cat “Clark Kent.”

The staff at The Cat Doctor are reporting that Clark Kent is recovering, though he still has a long road to get back to full strength. His temperature has risen from a low of 90 degrees when he was found (102 degrees is normal for cats) and he received a blood transfusion from another cat, Diamond, who is one of the house cats at The Cat Doctor.

“If he would not have had that he probably would have died,” said The Cat Doctor’s Lori Horwedel.

Horwedel said Clark Kent is still sleeping on a warming blanket to keep his body temperature up. But he is eating and interested in his surroundings.

“He’s bright and alert this morning,” she said. “When I opened the door (to his cage) he tried to jump out.”

Clark Kent was found in a gutter near Clark Park. He had obviously not been eating well (doctors suspect the piece of metal they found was part of something he tried to eat). He had no collar but he did have a microchip that included information on the people who adopted him. When someone from The Cat Doctor contacted the owner, who adopted him about six months ago, the woman’s mother said they put him outside because they thought he was sick. Enforcement officers from the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) are investigating.

Clark Kent has gained scores of fans worldwide in the two days since he was found. The West Philly-based feline rescue group City Kitties has received donations from Germany, Australia, Ireland and 30 U.S. states that will more than cover Clark Kent’s sizable medical bills.  Now City Kitties is asking those interested in helping to donate at the PSPCA website and choose “humane law enforcement” when asked where they want their donation directed.

This week’s featured cats are Peanut (pictured left) and Butters. They are sweet, playful kittens who love snuggles, all kinds of toys, and making you laugh and smile with their adorable antics.

They’re OK with dogs, and would likely do well with children, given their gentle nature. If not adopted together, then it would be best for them to go to homes where there are other animal companions to keep them company.

Peanut and Butters are neutered, vaccinated, FIV/FeLV negative, de-wormed, and flea treated… and waiting for their home(s) for the holidays with you! Please contact projectmeowadoptions[at]gmail.com to meet them. Application and fee applies.