Culture

Meet The Shelter Cat Placed In ‘Solitary Confinement’ For Constantly Freeing Other Cats

"Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame."

by Michelle Rennex  13 November 2019
Quilty The Shelter Cat

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In an unexpected turn of events, Quilty, the shelter cat who was put in “solitary confinement” for repeatedly helping other cats escape, has become the internet’s new hero.

In what only can be an act of organised rebellion, Quilty the 6-year-old cat, has gotten into a bit of trouble for his constant door-opening shenanigans. Two weeks ago the Friends for Life animal shelter in Houston, Texas, posted the hilarious adoption ad to Facebook where it went viral.

“Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame,” the post read.”Quilty loves to let cats out of the senior room. Repeatedly. Several times a day.”

A skill he learned at his home prior to the shelter, Quilty “used to let his dog sibling in the house at his old home.” As a result, Quilty had to be temporarily segregated from all the other cats because of his unruly ways.

While talking to CNN, Jennifer Hopkins, the shelters communication lead, explained that the door to the room that Quilty and the other cats shared would often randomly open.

“We would come in in the morning and have to collect all 15 of the cats who had had a blast during the night,” she told CNN. After footage on the security cameras proved that Quilty was the one letting the other cats out, the shelter was forced to take action.

During the “Quilty proofing” of the cat room, the cheeky cat had to be separated from the other felines, and was forced to stay in the lobby by himself.

It was these events that resulted in the post that made the internet fall in love with Quilty, the mischievous, door-opening, cat-freeing kitty.

While the photos uploaded by Friends for Life sum up how Quilty felt about the whole situation, the story looks like it has had a positive ending.

The Facebook post ended by calling for anyone interested in a “clever cat that gets along with dogs but does not get along with closed doors,” to come and meet Quilty. In fact, they begged. “Please. Come meet him. And take him home. Please…”

Luckily for the staff, their pleas were heard! People were interested in Quilty, and he was actually freed from his lock up and invited to a sleepover.

Friends for Life offer a week-long sleepover, as a trial period for potential adoptive families and the animals. If the trial doesn’t work out, the animal can be brought back to the shelter and the potential adopters can try again with another. The shelter explain that this process “saves a lot of heartache and headaches and animals.”

And according to the sleepover family, Quilty is doing really well, and more importantly “hasn’t shown any slickness at all yet.” They continued, “he has us all wrapped around his paws for sure. He is the most loving and affectionate cat I have ever met!”

View this post on Instagram

NEW QUILTY UPDATE from his sleepover!! 😻 . "Hi there! Just popping in with another Quilty update! He has really taken over the role of King of the house. He loves to be held like a baby and have his tummy rubbed and looks down on his human minions to do his bidding. He has us all wrapped around his paws for sure! Anytime he is ignored, he just starts meow-ing REALLY loudly and then Bam, he is being loved on and spoiled. His smallest human minion loves to feed him cat treatos, so he definitely has us all doing his bidding and goes to whomever he thinks will give him the most pets or treats. He still sleeps under the covers with me though. All is going well, I will update again tomorrow 😁" . . . #freeQuilty #NoMoreDoors #QuiltyNotGuilty

A post shared by freequilty (@free_quilty) on

And if that falls through, I’m certain that any of the #FreeQuilty and #QuiltyNotGuilty family would be more than happy to adopt the cheeky boy.

You can follow Quilty and his adventures on Instagram: @free_quilty and @friends4lifeorg.