CataBlog

Fem-Cat Friday introduces Becky

Little 12 year old Becky came into the shelter as "Bungeye", having lost her right eye in a car accident when she was young.

Our volunteers hated the name and felt that it focused on her physical issues rather than the lovely cat that she is. Normally we don't rename our cats, but so many people felt that her name just didn't do her justice that we've made an exception in this case.

Becky's family were unable to keep her when a child in the family developed an allergy to her. I've no doubt this was pretty traumatic for all concerned, as Becky is such an affectionate cat that giving her up must have been hugely difficult. Sure, she's a little battered looking and people wanting a pinup cat probably won't give her a second look.

So what? She loves company, is a total smooch, and will be a loving companion to whatever fortunate person decides to adopt her.

Her favourite spot in the shelter is in the kitchen with the volunteers (and the food!) where she has her own little pillow on the bench where she can sit in comfort and bask in the attention she deserves.

I think, if I'd put in an entry for her new name, it would have been Raggedy Anne. Small, a little chewed and totally irresitable.

Man-Cat Monday (well, if you were in a different timezone, on a different planet)

Sorry for the delay. Blog has been having some technical issues this week

And now for Man-Cat Monday (admittedly on a Thursday)...

The Wellington CPL would like to introduce to you, the somewhat shy, but absolutely lovely, Henry!

He was found as a stray and has taken a while to settle in to the shelter environment. He intially found the shelter pretty overwhelming. Especially the number of different volunteers that he had to deal with week by week.

However he started to slowly improve once we got him moved to a new cage in our timid's room. The moving was fairly traumatic for all concerned, but it gave him a "home" space that was much more quiet and away from the pesky humans than he had before. In fact, when the pesky humans came to visit, he began to decide that tummy rubs and head butts were the order of the day.

Henry's now getting very very brave and venturing out into the main shelter quite regularly in search of breakfast/dinner and cuddles. He's still pretty wary of people he doesn't know well, but is responding brilliantly to those he's decided to trust.

Anyone looking to adopt Henry would need to expect him to take a while to adjust to the change and to get to know him. But would be well rewarded with a fantastic, loving cat who would conquer their heart and their home.

Fem-Cat Friday is back!

Yep - it's been a while, I know. No promises, but I'm going to try to get back to highlighting one of the girls in the shelter looking for a new home each Friday. (If anyone can think of a better name than Fem-Cat Friday, please let me know!)

Man-Cat Monday is also planned to follow.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Zenith.

Zenith is a 14 year old girl who has been with us for almost a year. When her elderly person became ill, she didn't cope well with the lessening of attention and started to wander off looking for company. Finally her man had to go into care and his family were unable to take her, so she came to us to hopefully find a new and loving home.

Zenith is smart, fiesty and all round gorgeous! In fact, now that my beloved Moppett has a new home and Ratty has left us, she's top of my "I'd take you home if I didn't have a Monty" list.

She doesn't come without a few issues sadly. She has quite bad arthritis (which we're managing with vet treatment) and the beginnings of kidney failure. All of which doesn't really make her that attractive to potential cat adoptors.

It does however make her eligible for our fostering programme! That's where you (cat fosterer) commit to love and care for our cat for as long as they have left, while we (CPL) cover the vet bills. We find it's one way that we can find homes for elderly cats like Zenith, rather then have them live out their lives in the shelter.

Since she came to us, Zenith has more and more pulled back into herself. A cat that should be spending her days (and nights) curled up on a lap or bed being adored to bits is instead spending most of her time sleeping in her cage and keeping as far away as she can from the other cats.

We would so love to see her find a home where she can live out the remainder of her years as an well loved only cat.