{"id":553661,"date":"2026-01-30T09:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/553661\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T09:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:50:20","slug":"shelter-hopes-cats-resting-airplane-ears-wont-stop-him-from-finding-a-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/553661\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelter Hopes Cat’s ‘Resting Airplane Ears’ Won’t Stop Him From Finding A Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every cat at Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC)<\/a> is memorable in their own way. But when Wonder showed up, he stood out instantly with the flattest airplane ears the shelter staff had ever seen.<\/p>\n

It all started 70 days ago, when NYPD officers delivered a downtrodden tabby cat to ACC’s Queens location. The cat had recently become homeless after his owner passed away, and his demeanor when he arrived at the shelter broke everyone\u2019s hearts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe initially displayed a high level of FAS (fear, anxiety, and stress), hissing with a tense face and body, ears flat to the side each time his kennel was approached,\u201d ACC’s Alec Rusnack told The Dodo.<\/p>\n

Instagram\/@cswilik<\/p>\n

As the days passed, Wonder settled into his kennel, and his body became less tense when people approached. But his ears remained flat, refusing to perk up no matter the incentive.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, ACC’s feline behavior team had experience with anxious cats like Wonder, so they knew just what to do earn his trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith time, patience, positive interactions, and lots of love from our feline behavior team and dedicated cat volunteers, he has made wonderful progress,\u201d Rusnack said. \u201cI’m sure an excess of squeeze-up treats certainly didn’t hurt either!\u201d<\/p>\n

Instagram\/@cswilik<\/p>\n

Despite the progress Wonder was making with his anxiety, his ears stayed flat like airplane wings. On the outside, his ears made him seem unapproachable. But the shelter staff knew he was secretly a sweetheart, so they decided to place a note on his kennel door to let others know.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am actually a sweet old boy with resting airplane ears \u2014 I\u2019ll greet you with a hiss, but I actually just want pets!\u201d the note read. \u201cSay hi slow [and] I\u2019ll love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instagram\/@cswilik<\/p>\n

One volunteer, Chelsey, noticed Wonder\u2019s airplane ears immediately upon meeting him. Every time she\u2019d stop by his kennel when he first arrived, she\u2019d find him crouched on the top shelf and would receive at least one hiss.<\/p>\n

Chelsey gave Wonder the space she thought he needed at first, hoping not to stress him out any more than he already appeared to be. But after reading the note on his kennel, she decided to offer him some pets \u2014 and he happily obliged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonder is a true softy,\u201d Chelsey told The Dodo.<\/p>\n

You can see that moment here:<\/p>\n

As a shy senior cat with anxiety, Wonder\u2019s time at the shelter has been challenging. But thanks to volunteers like Chelsey and the dedicated behavior team, the sweet boy is becoming more confident each day.<\/p>\n

And as one of the shelter\u2019s longest residents, he\u2019s hoping someone will fall in love with him \u2014 airplane ears and all \u2014 and finally take him home.<\/p>\n

Instagram\/@cswilik<\/p>\n

The ACC staff are smitten with Wonder and will miss seeing him around, but they can\u2019t wait for him to find the perfect family that understands and accepts him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWonder would do best in a calm, patient home with an experienced cat adopter who understands that shy cats sometimes need a little extra time to open up,\u201d Rusnack says.<\/p>\n

For now, Wonder remains at ACC with his airplane ears deployed and his heart open to love. And the team couldn\u2019t be more obsessed with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite his expressive ears, Wonder is a sweetheart once he feels comfortable!\u201d Rusnack said.<\/p>\n

To inquire about adopting Wonder, you can fill out an application here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To help cats like Wonder get the care they need, you can donate to Animal Care Centers of NYC here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>Two Dogs On The Euthanasia List Lose The Same Leg \u2014 Then Learn They\u2019re Family\u201cIt genuinely left us speechless.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every cat at Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) is memorable in their own way. But when Wonder…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":553662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4652,28072,242620,4653,19258,210,7926,10235,19256,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-553661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-adoption","9":"tag-ashley-ortiz","10":"tag-cat-stories","11":"tag-cats","12":"tag-daily-dodo","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-pets","15":"tag-standard","16":"tag-the-dodo","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115983432624576055","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}