We currently have one of the rescue rooms set aside for a couple of older cats.
(1) You may remember Maya, who arrived with us in April. She was sooo poorly when she got here and had Max and his stillborn sister prematurely. Our vet thinks she must be about 10 years old …… its difficult to tell when she’s had a hard life and doesn’t have any teeth. It’s heartbreaking to think how she must have lived, probably fending for herself a lot of her life, most likely pregnant or nursing babies almost the entire time. She was in season again only a week or so after little Max died.
She’s now been spayed and chipped and is physically well, so we’ve started the difficult journey of working out what’s best for her future. Ideally she’d make some miraculous turn around like our lovely Jack did, and settle herself into a loving furever home. It’s not happening that way though ….. she’s very slow to gain any trust. We make some tiny break throughs …..
For a supposedly older cat, Maya is surprisingly interested in toys, especially quite noisy toys, so the ball rolling through the track or rattling over the laminate is a real hit. ……. so long as she’s under the desk …. she won’t come any closer.
After her op we kept her in a crate in the hope that it would enable her to gain confidence. Trying using food to gain her trust ….. little and often …. rewards of tuna ……
Again ….. progress is slow. She loves Uncle Bob’s igloo and spends most of her time in there. Occasionally a paw will swipe out, grab what she wants ….. and drag it back into the cave.
Do we keep trying? Hope for a foster home that can give her the space/time to gain confidence? Try to find an outdoor home for her? It seems so hard after all she’s been through already ……… none of the choices seem good …….. keeping her indoors and anxious doesn’t feel right …… but homing her outdoors doesn’t seem great either when she’s an older girl. There’s a sweetness about her that makes it hard to just give up on her.
8 Lives: Sheffield 8 Cat Rescue 