Indiana town adopted ‘scrappy’ cat 16 years ago, now he needs some help

McCordsville’s town mascot has had his ups and downs in his 16 years representing the city.

He’s been shot at, dodged traffic on State Road 67, gone missing for three months and been accidentally adopted. But mostly he’s been cuddled and loved.

Now Oscar the cat needs his constituent’s help.

The stray cat who wandered into Town Hall the year Barack Obama was elected president has a tumor on his mouth that requires hypothyroid medications. The municipal employees who are his caretakers have a box for donations in the Town Hall lobby to pay for the meds and special foods. Oscar is also accepting thoughts and purrs.

“He’s slowed down a little but he still has a lot of grit,” said Katie Stancombe, a building inspector for the town of 10,370, northeast of Indianapolis.

Regular visitors to Town Hall know Oscar well as the furtive unofficial greeter, slinking from one desk to another. The black cat has become so familiar the Town Council in 2019 named him as Town Mascot.

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Though the kitty is getting long in the tooth, Oscar is no grouch; his name is an acronym for OutSide Cat at Rear. That’s what employees called him after he’d hang outside the police department looking for food and pets.

“At first he’d stay in the police department but gradually he started making the whole town hall his home,” said Tonya Galbraith, the former town manager of 16 years.

Oscar’s an indoor-outdoor feline who’s got plenty of comfy options indoors and adventurous choices outside.

After the town hall moved across Broadway in 2009, employees weren’t sure whether Oscar would come along. He not only made the move but continued to visit his old haunt, darting across the busy road several times, until he was sure that there was no one left there to feed him.

Oscar once sent employees into the street handing out “missing” leaflets after he disappeared, only to come sauntering back home months later, seemingly unruffled by his mysterious pilgrimage.

On another occasion, a resident who saw Oscar in the Town Hall parking lot mistook him for a stray and hauled him to the Humane Society of Hamilton County. Officials there quickly determined he had a home office and returned him to Town Hall.

Stancombe and Allyson Hamlin, an administrative assistant, are Oscar’s chief caretakers but said all 15 office employees chip in to provide food and litter for him.

Oscar doesn’t have a secret way to get in and out of the buildings but will let the office know when it’s time to get some fresh air.

“He paces back and forth or he hangs out by the window,” Hamlin said. “He’s pretty vocal about going out.”

His age and medical condition have made Oscar more of a homebody lately, which means a lot of sleeping on office desks, chairs and cabinets.

“He likes to sleep on computer keyboards and nestle in your arms when you’re typing,” Stancombe said.

Stancombe said Oscar is too old to have the tumor removed and they give him pills twice a day with his meals.

“At first he was prescribed liquid medicine but that is not his jam,” Stancombe said.

The kitty had one other medical emergency a few years ago when he came back from a day trip behaving sluggishly. A vet checked him out and found he had been hit by BB gun fire, perhaps for chasing backyard birds or rabbits.

“He’s scrappy when he’s outside,” Stancombe said. “But he’s a lover when he’s in the office.”

Those who would like to donate can use the drop box located at Town Hall, or they can mail a check made out to “Town of McCordsville. Attn: Oscar ” 6280 W. 800 N., McCordsville, IN 46055.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418 or email him at john.tuohy@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook and X/Twitter.