Hi everyone,
Today’s guest post comes from Cathy:
Rescue cats
Ah, rescue cats. Sometimes it’s not so clear who’s saving whom…
When our female cat named Bob passed away (several years ago now), it didn’t seem necessary to “replace” her, given that we still had two good-natured and friendly male cats for company. Didn’t seem necessary, that is, until my husband spotted Zoë as the feature “rescue cat” at the local pet store.
He called me from the store. “I want to adopt this cat,” he said.
“So it’s black calico female?” I replied.
“When did you see her?” he asked, confused.
Well, I hadn’t seen her. I just figured that to have won his heart so quickly, she must have somehow reminded him of our dearly departed Bob.
Indeed, the resemblance was striking, and Bob and Zoë also shared the same graceful, gentle way of moving.
But, Zoë was her own cat. Having been rescued from a house with a serious cat overcrowding problem, she was accustomed to other felines being around, and didn’t have too much trouble adjusting to the two resident cats (nor they to her).
She was, however, very protective of her food, tending to grab it from the dish and take into the corner to eat—even though our two gentlemen cat had no intention of trying to steal it from her. That behavior has reduced over time, only coming out again when she gets hold of a particularly tasty treat.
Zoë is not exactly cuddly, but she does seem fascinated by us—actually, those big round eyes of her make seems fascinated by everything. She likes to be where we are, close but not too close: on her own chair at breakfast bar, on the window sill nearest to where we’re working, or even on our lap—as long as there is blanket barrier between her and us.
In the next couple years, we lost one, then the other of our sweet male cats. We decided that a suitable distraction for our grief would be to go cat “shopping” from the rescue organization where we’d acquired Zoë.
In their “catalog”, one blue-eyed tabby/Siamese cross really stood out from the pack as a particularly handsome fellow. Unfortunately, when we went to see him, he was clearly terrified of us, trembling and withdrawn. However, his foster mother said he’d been like that with her at first as well, but had come along as a very friendly cat.
While we pondered him, we visited with the latest feature rescue cat at the store. She was a tiny auburn tortie, and she seemed liked the cuddliest cat ever, nestling in our arms purring when we picked her up.
I wanted her. My husband wanted him. We compromised by getting both.
We dubbed her Mocha, because I liked the word, and him McSteamy, because we felt he resembled actor Eric Dane from Grey’s Anatomy.
Even though the cats were strangers to each other, we were advised to put them together in one room, initially separate from Zoë. That proved good advice, as the two formed a bond greater than any between any other two cats we’ve ever had. They still love to nestle and sleep together, an always cute but funny portrait given their very different sizes.
Unfortunately, they weren’t immediately quite as fond of us, both tending to hide under furniture as soon as we entered the room. Mocha’s friendliness at the pet store was apparently just a ploy to get adopted. McSteamy was actually the more receptive one, and seemed to be gradually losing his fear, until that day when, while exploring the rest of the house, a loud noise gave him such a fright that he ran up two flights of stairs, onto a bed, then right through a screened window on the second floor, and down into our backyard. He didn’t stop running until he was in the berm behind the house, hanging out with the gophers. We could see him, but we couldn’t really catch him.
The cat rescue organization was very helpful in dealing with this crisis. They lent us a trap, told us to put as close to the window he’d escaped from as possible, and to wait. I was skeptical, but darned if McSteamy didn’t make his way into that trap that same day—albeit many hours later.
Once back in the house and released, McSteamy decided we were the best people ever. And he has never really stopped thinking that. His fear of us was gone for good. (And he’s shown little interest in ever going outside again.)
Frankly, I shudder to think what kind of experience he’d had before ending up at the shelter where the cat rescue organization found him, because now this is one of the friendliest, most relaxed cats I’ve ever encountered. He really doesn’t seem afraid of anything anymore.
Mocha was much slower to come around, and still spent many weeks hiding behind furniture. But come around she did, eventually blooming into that excessively cuddly cat from the store. And she has the loudest purr of any cat I’ve ever encountered. Unlike McSteamy, she remains a bit of a nervous cat, but has come a very long way. In fact, it’s Zoë and not her who is more likely to go hide when strangers visit.
Though we still have fond memories of our original cat trio, the new set were very helpful in our grieving process.
— Cathy
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Thanks,
Marc
I usually advise not to get a new cat that resembles the departed – the expectations that this cat should behave like its predecessor are bigger when they look like at each other. But you mastered it well and I am glad that your two shy cats proved to be cuddly! My tortie was the shyest cat I ever had, it took me seven months to befriend her – now she lies next to me, purring loudly.
Regarding McSteamy’s escape and return, the same sort of thing happened when my orange boy Praline pushed a screen out and was outside for two or three weeks. When I finally lured him back in with kibble, he was the happiest, purriest kitty ever. He’d been fairly accepting of us before but the day after he came back he took a nap in my lap for the first time. And he hasn’t shown any interest in getting out since, having decided it wasn’t for him.
Glad McSteamy didn’t make us wait 2 to 3 weeks – and that all ended well for your Praline.
🙂
Glad he found his way back. 🙂
Beautiful story 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the guest story. 😀
“I wanted her, he wanted him, so we got both”! Genius! 😀 Lovely story, it is clear you are very dedicated to them! Hope you have many more haopy years together! ?
😀 excellent logic 😉
I love the method of compromise of taking home both cats. My home is a one-cat home because Jamima is a very anxious Tortoishell. She doesn’t cope with children, noisy cars down the driveway or even birds fluttering outside. She really dislikes children and vacuum cleaners and I always wished she had been allowed to have a litter of kittens as I presumed this would have seen her calmer and more settled. Maybe next time I’ll go for a threesome. But hopefully not for a long time. More love right? Cheers,
H
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Your cats are all so beautiful. MCSteamy (such a cute name!) realized you guys are the best. Oh, you funny little cat!
Glad you liked the story 🙂
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Thanks ^^
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Beautiful story. Too bad that there was that offensive Trump Make America Great Ad below. Grrrr!
I’m really starting to dislike the WordPress automated ads… Another reason I’m thinking of migrating the blog onto a .org installation so I’m fully in control of what goes on the blog….
Great story 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the guest story. 😉
You two have a knack for picking out the most gorgeous cats! Every one is so beautiful and unique but oddly they are alike. My sympathies for your losses, I know how tough it can be. Congratulations on your new babies!?
<3
They are all adorable. I am glad you opened your heart t more kitties instead of letting grief take over. There are so many kitties in need of forever homes.
Thanks on behalf of the guest author 🙂
Very beautiful cats.
Thank you 😀
You have some wonderful furry friends there 🙂
We’ve tended to get nearly every one of our cats from the cat protection team near where we live, here in the UK, and have had wonderful relationships with each and every one of them. Our present cat, Kushka, loves dogs, but hates other cats, so we’re a one cat family right now. She’s been such a blessing to me, though, so I can’t complain 🙂
Awww I love it when cats get along with dogs. 😀
If you’d like to do a guest story on Kushka let us know!
I love the way you compromise!
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Thank you for sharing your story!
Glad you liked the guest story 🙂
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