Meet Chester!
UPDATE: 1/1/26:
Well, this sweet boy is STILL with us. Here is a quick update. Yes, Chester has been with us for ALMOST 2 years. He is THE best cat with the most amazing personality, who would ideally be adopted into a home with other cats or dogs - or even better, BOTH. He would be fantastic with one adult or multiple humans, especially children. He is a total love bug and the funniest guy. His behavior is just fantastic, HOWEVER, he is NOT a good fit for first time cat (or pet) owners as he will have medical expenses. Sadly, he has several medical pre-existing conditions, which means his adopter will unlikely be able to find pet insurance that will cover several re-checks or future issues. We do not consider him"special needs" because you would never know he is. However, here are several things to know about him:
1) Chester has a wonky ear. We made the best decision to amputate it to prevent and minimize ear infections from his cauliflower ear. It's been more than 6months and it's doing great, but it may need ear cleaning or keeping an eye out on that ear in the future.
2) He has wonky eyes. Sadly, when he arrived at ARWOB he already had scarred eyes and tissue build up. He can see, but he has vision challenges. Therefore, don't expect him to follow the feather wand with perfection as his peripheral vision is off. He does great with cat toys or balls with bells. He will follow them and play goalie. He likes laser pens and he ENJOYS the reflection of the sunlight on water that reflects on the walls, doors, etc. He is always mesmerized following shadows as well. For this reason, a YEARLY ophthalmologist re-check is recommended to make sure his eyesight is still functioning as a young cat, who has many good years ahead of him. It would be great if his remaining eyesight is preserved.
3) He doesn't have the best "chest" which is why his name is Chester. He had terrible bacterial infections when he arrived at ARWOB from a Los Angeles shelter. He had dealt with upper respiratory infections for too long and for this reason he will always sound like a brachiocephalic dog when breathing (typically associated with pugs, bulldogs, etc). He can snore sometimes, so you typically know exactly where he is in the room. That has never changed from day one. He will also occasionally have a flare-up of his herpes virus, so some months will be dry and some months you WILL end up with a LOVELY long, snotty mess on your computer, walls, doors, and even YOU because he will sneeze yucky boogers. IF you have an "ick" for this kind of stuff, Chester is NOT for you. It's not often that this happens, but it will happen.
4) On 12/20/25 Chester became extremely sick. After a couple of days monitoring with no improvement and with veterinary advice, we chose to take Chester into surgery before Christmas as it would be impossible (and more expensive) to find a surgeon on Christmas day. Chester underwent exploratory surgery on 12/22/25. We were expecting he may have eaten a foreign object. However, this did not track with Chester's personality. He likes to bat things around on the ground, but never chews or eats them. After almost $3,000 in veterinary bills, there was NO foreign object, so the vet took a biopsy. She suspected he might have Lymphoma or Irritable Bowel Disease, but thankfully the results were negative. In the end he just had a weird and unlucky episode. What a way to end the year for ARWOB and Chester! We decided to separate him into a different foster home to recover from his huge surgery. He did well in an apartment setting being the only cat with a senior foster parent. After a month we decided to bring Chester back to Casa de ARWOB to mingle with his dog and cat friends.
NOTE - Chester LOVES heat, sunlight and electronics. You will find him next to anything that generates heat, like a Chihuahua praying to the sun gods.
For the reasons above, Chester is looking for a specific home and one that is a FOREVER home. He will make youl laugh and your heart will be FULL - your wallet, not so much. If you are interested in this very special gentlemen, please submit an application at www.arwob.org