Apr. 14--Aleyna Ucargonol's face lit up when the short-haired cat with the black-and-white "tuxedo" markings came into her Friendship preschool Monday morning.
Aleyna, 3, reached to pet Scooter's head and shoulders. Then the girl, who has cerebral palsy, leaned down to spin a wheel on the partially paralyzed cat's "kitty wheelchair," similar to the one Aleyna uses.
Pamela Schanwald, CEO of The Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center, said the children are inspired by watching the cat maneuver.
"At first the cat was a little bit skittish and the children were shy, but now they look forward to seeing him," she said.
The Children's Home, a nonprofit that provides inpatient pediatric hospice and transitional care, has a preschool called Child's Way for children with medical conditions that most preschools aren't equipped to handle, such as cancer or seizure disorders. Scooter visits once a month on Mondays.
Scooter was brought to Betsy Kennon, a veterinarian at Northview Animal Hospital in Ross, a year ago, after a client's husky found him in Fox Chapel. Kennon's exam found no bite marks on the cat; the dog simply acted as an ambulance, carrying the cat who appeared to have been hit by a car.
Kennon adopted the cat and found a company that makes wheelchairs for animals. Scooter's limp back legs are strapped into a sling with two wheels on either side. He wears a diaper with a hole in the back for his tail. With his front legs, the cat, now 1 1/2 years old, scoots around, occasionally pulling himself up to peer over a chair or rest his head in someone's lap.
"He got used to it really quickly," said Kennon. "At first he was looking over his shoulder, like, 'What's that thing following me?' But then he just kind of forgot it was there."
For 10 months, Kennon has taken Scooter to the HealthSouth rehabilitation hospital in Indiana Township. This winter, she started bringing him to Child's Way. At the school, she keeps Scooter on a leash because "if he wants to, he can motor."
"I really wanted to have him meet children, and show them that he's not the least bit bothered by the fact that he has a scooter."
Kennon tickled a shy boy's face with the tip of Scooter's tail. The boy grinned and gently stroked the cat.
"It's not just because of the kitty wheelchair that Scooter's good for the kids," Schanwald said. "He also really teaches them to be compassionate."
-----
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:HLS,