By Hannah Harvey

Billy sat up as I approached him. His green eyes met mine, and it only took a moment after I had taken a seat for him to curl up next to me. He hadn’t had a good chin scratch in a few hours, and though he’d been showered with toys and soft bedding, I could tell he was lonely. As I sat and talked with him, Billy rolled back and forth, embracing the human interaction. He found a comfortable position, asked for belly rubs and gently reached a soft, white paw toward me. Without a long tail to get in the way, he curled perfectly into the round top of his small cat perch. Considering what Billy had been through, he seemed to be more than okay with how life turned out for him.

Billy, a former nomad, arrived at the Animal Rescue League of Boston in the middle of March. Half of his tail was missing and had become infected. After examining the tail, shelter veterinarian Dr. Doyle said, “His wound on his tail looked old but had significant infection and redness,” and she noted that he was likely very uncomfortable. It became apparent that because of the infection Billy would have to lose an additional three to four inches of his tail.

Unfortunately, Billy’s tail was not healing as well as expected after the amputation. After performing some tests, it was discovered that Billy had at one time been exposed to Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, or MRSA, a type of bacteria that is very resistant to common antibiotics. The veterinarians did not know for certain how Billy could have been exposed to MRSA, but because he was a stray with an open wound the risk for contracting MRSA from an affected animal or person was much greater. Luckily, after days of having his amputation site cleaned regularly, Billy began to improve. During the recovery process, Dr. Doyle described him as “unfailingly sweet and patient the whole time.”

Based on his extremely friendly interactions with everyone at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, staff members were confident that he would find a home. On Wednesday, May 16 a wonderful couple came in to see Billy, having heard about him from their daughter. The couple instantly fell for Billy’s sweet nature and filled out an application to adopt him. They took him home that day. Shelter staff were happily greeted with an email from his adopters the next day, which included pictures of his happy ending. After a rough, lonely start to life on the street, Billy finally found his family.