KNOWN HISTORY:: Scott was brought in as a stray, there is no known information on his behavior history in a home environment. ARS Note: Cat was pretty friendly and we believe it is abandoned. ARS was able to wrap in towel and place in carrier for transport to QACC

ENRICHMENT NOTES:: 6/8/26 FB25 Scott is sitting in his litterbox and I notice that his portal door was left closed, presumably during feeding time. He is hissing repeatedly as I slowly open the kennel door. I keep it cracked and peak in at him where he is through the other kennel door. He hisses, his body crouched, with forward ears. He does stop and returns a slow blink, but returns to hissing when I move back toward the door. I quickly open the portal and he spits and lunges. He was forced pretty close to me for this so it wasn't poor Scott's fault. 6/10/26 FB25 He is sitting in his litterbox with his limbs tucked beneath him. He can be heard hissing as I crouch down near the kennel. When I open the privacy flap, he hisses at me. I keep it open and sit quietly until his hissing stops. I slow blink and after a few moments, he returns one. I'm able to sit with him for a few minutes talking softly without hissing. I put squeeze up through the kennel crack and he again hisses a few times at first, then settles, just watching. Did not attempt opening the kennel door. 6/11/26 FB79 Inside of his litterbox, Scott has his tail wrapped and his body low when i open the cubby door; he had no reaction until i spoke softly. Scott hissed as his eyes dilated but settled down when i remained still. I slow blinked as i spoke to him softly some more and tossed in treats which he hissed at once again. 6/12/26 FB25 Scott is inside of his litter box. He hisses multiple times as I approach. I lift the privacy flap and he has come pretty close to the front, hissing with his teeth exposed. I sit still for a bit just slow blinking at him. He moves back to the litter box and settles, but keeps a tense body, crouched with his tail wrapped around him. I got him a den, maybe a better hidey spot will help him. He lunges at the stick used to open and close the portal door. I check back a few minutes later and he is on top of the den, investigating. 6/13/26 FB58 Curled up in the flip bed he has been given and he hisses harshly as I approach and as I sit down in front of his cage, settling down and opening the door. I try and offer a tray with squeeze up and some other high value treats and have to place it down near the front of the cage and push it closer to the front of his hide to prevent him from attempting to lunge. He does okay but is very tense and staring hard as he hisses harshly. I leave the treat tray there and focus on sitting and talking to him, slow blinking as I wait for him to relax in any way or settling into even a very tense loaf. With time he does and sits loafed with eyes wide and pupils less dilated, eyes shifting around and he slow blinks a couple times. He remains very sensitive to noise and any movements and I can tell that he has a hiss or lunge ready to go, but he looks much younger and shows his potential today! GAN

ACTIVITY LEVEL:: Subdued

VOCAL:: Quiet

CHARACTER TYPE: : Shy ,Timid,Skittish,Independent

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES:: Fearful,New home adjustment period

Potential challenges comments:: Scott displayed a very high level of FAs during his assessment and appears to be struggling to adjust to the shelter environment, resorting to defensive aggression. He is reported to be friendly and easy to handle, and when touched with the Assess-A-Hand at times he would duck under it as if he almost was seeking out pets, before he escalated. 6/30/26 In shelter, with some High FAS cats, when the den cover remains on the den - not being able to see staff approach results in a major and immediate escalation to defensive aggression (hard swats from inside the den or lunging). When the den cover is removed and they are given time to settle, are able to see the room around them as well as staff as they approach (as well as the comfort of a cage cover), they begin to decompress and settle into their cage more. These cat then either had their dens turned so that they could peak through the den portal first and see what was approaching, or had the den cover removed to allow a higher visual on staff entering into the cage. With time, these highly reactive and defensively fractious cats began to spend more time out of the den and would settle into the space more appropriately. They would respond to socialization attempts, and in some cases over time, would approach and accept touch/pets/or would eat treats out of the behavior staff's hands. Scott originally had his den set up with the portal facing the front of the cage, however, this appears to have still allowed him to hide himself away in the corner of the den and to have felt cornered in a way where approaches in the cage felt as if they were "life or death". During is re-eval on 6/30 a behavior team staff member noted that Scott was becoming even more bold in his escalations and stepping part way out of the den to lunge and swat, clearly not responding to his den re-orientation and Fraidy Cat Club socializations. Scott's cage set-up was adjusted to have the portal opening facing the side and the den door facing the front with the den cover removed - in order to see if it would assist in helping him decompress as they otherwise seemed to not be adjusting well in a shelter setting. Once the den was re-oriented, while Scott did remains sensitive and reactive to movements, he did settle into a somewhat tense loaf and would slow blink or sit with his eyes closed. The staff member was able to get the scratcher tool closer than they had been, before he would sit up and hiss and swat. Hopefully with this new orientation, his escalation to defensive aggression will begin to decrease as he can see what is happening but still has a barrier between him and the staff entering his cage.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: : New Hope Only

RECOMMENDATIONS:: Adult only home

Recommendations comments:: Due to the behavior seen in shelter and needing a longer time to warm up, the behavior team feels Scott would do best in an adult-only home where they would be able to acclimate in a calm environment.

BEHAVIOR SUMMARY:: 5/30/26 On approach, Scott is curled up with a tense face and body, eyes wide and dilated, at the back of his cubby in the litter box. As the cubby door is opened he hisses harshly consistently with his ears tilted flat back as the assessor offers him the scratcher tool slowly. he continues to hiss as the tool is run along his head and down his back, pausing when pet along his cheek and lip licks. He remains tense with his ears tilted flat back throughout. When the assessor then switches to the Assess-A-Hand, he again hisses and low growls consistently as he is somewhat tolerant of touch, but at time ducks his head under the hand as if he is curious about touch or is almost seeking out head pets. He does escalate to swatting and biting the hand however. Pick up is not attempted and the interaction is ended. 6/30/26 Upon re-eval, Scott continues to display behaviors that are not appropriate for regular adoption. On approach, he is in his den which is oriented to have the side portal face the front of the cage, and he begins to hiss and low growl as the assessor is unlocking the cage door. As the door is slowly opened, he steps out partly to lunge and swat. The assessor then places the treat tray on a scratcher tool and slowly offers it out to him, which he doesn't swat until it gets close to the den. After he swats the tray off the tool, he sniffs around realizing there are treats. He does not eat them and remains tense and wary, eyes wide and dilated. The assessor is unable to make contact and instead closes the den portal, choosing to change the orientation of his den so that the portal is back facing the side but the den door is facing the front without the den cover. He remains tense and sensitive to movement, lunging when the cover is removed but after a minute or two, he settles into a loafed position and slow blinks at times. The assessor is able to slowly slide to tool closer to the portal opening before he does eventually sit up quickly and hiss, reaching out to swat. Unfortunately it appears that his den set up may not have been the most appropriate for the behavior team's socialization attempts to fully settle in but hopefully with time, he will make progress going forward. Scott is displaying behaviors that preclude placement in the adoptions room and/or may require further investigation before placement in a home. He has tried to swat, bite, is extremely fearful in the shelter environment, and does not currently tolerate petting or handling. The behavior department feels that placement with a New Hope Partner is the best option at this time.