Earlier this fall my wife and I rescued four kittens that had been living in our backyard. There were two orange ones (Owen & Cope), one black one (Vlad), and one grey one (Buffy). Buffy was the last to be caught, and she did not like it one bit. Where the other kittens warmed up quickly, Buffy hissed at us anytime we came near her cage, and this went on for a few weeks.
Eventually, though, she started to purr, even if she became frightened when we tried to pet her. I realized that she had become too territorial about her cage, and I decided to let her have the run of the bathroom. That seemed to do the trick. From that point on she was one of the most affectionate kittens we have ever kept, and soon we let her out into the rest of the apartment.
Yesterday, I am happy to say, Buffy got adopted. It's always a little sad when the cats we've cared for go to a new home, but we were a little more heartbroken about Buffy than the rest. (She was also the last of the four we rescued to be adopted. With the exception of one, every cat we have ever fostered has found a home. This is especially gratifying given that most of them would have been euthanized if we did not open our home to them.) We rescued her ourselves and worked hard to socialize her, and some days we doubted that she would ever warm up to people. The cat that used to spit and hiss if you came within three feet of her now can't bear to be alone, and she is probably already getting cozy in her new digs.
We'll always miss Buffy, but there are other cats here that need some help. One is Todd, a white and grey male who was severely bitten on his hind leg before he came to us. He's a little shy, but doing well so far. The challenge is going to be Mirabelle, an adult female who is so frightened that all she wants to do is huddle in the corner. We'll have both of them for a few weeks, but I have no doubt that they will both recover and be adopted soon. Then it will be time to help some other felines, and I am glad that my wife and I have been able to give so many of these animals a chance at a better life.
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We've discussed fostering cats before, but have always reached the conclusion we'd have a home of 37 felines because we'd be too big of wimps to ever give them up. I don't know how you do it, but we are glad that folks like you do, cause we have two great goofballs whose lives were saved by kitty foster parents. Thanks.
It's great to hear stories like this. My girlfriend's parents have a barn down the street from us and the last few years we have tried to catch kittens that have been born there. Our rough estimate is that we have grabbed 45-50 kittens over the past three years and found homes for all but two. Of course those two now live with us. It is tough to give them away but at the same time it is very gratifying to know that they have a better life than they would have had in the barn. We also work with a local vet who will take care of fixing the wild cats or free. If we can catch any of them we just put them back in the barn afterwards and don't try to tame them as they are pretty feral by the time they are having kittens. Nice post.