… the Dog Pound gave to me
… Two FOSTER CATS!
Ok so it’s all wrong and doesn’t scan … but then cat rescue is like that.
The tail I’m about to tell began 9 years ago … at least my part in it did. Just before Christmas 2010 I was sent photos of a number of cats who had been in the dog pound for some time and were under threat of being put to sleep. I was just a foster carer for another rescue at the time, but the day after Boxing Day I went with them to assess the situation and think how we could save the eight or so cats who were there.
We had our eye on what we were referring to as “the fat ginger and white one” as we thought he wasn’t neutered. I agreed to take him … then another “ginger one” who seemed to get on ok with him. I’m really sad that I didn’t get more information about where they’d come from and how they came to be in the pound. There was a comment about whether the two gingers “had been in the same room” … was it a hoarding situation? We’ll sadly never know. I believe the other cat in the photos above had been rescued before we arrived, and the rest of the cats were rescued later.
They settled themselves in quite quickly as you can see.
There was a very tricky moment the first evening. The “fat ginger and white one” established himself on the stairs .. and when I tried to pass, gave out the most fearsome hiss and lashed out at me. I vividly remember standing in the hallway thinking “oh f@ck what have I done?” … this was the biggest cat I’d ever seen, I was new to fostering and scared of him.
The photo above was taken that same night … but the ‘incident’ was lower down the stairs and I was too scared to take a photo .. besides … back in those days photos were something you needed a camera for … not just whip out your phone.
The young ginger was named Ollie and was very quickly adopted and adored.
The “fat ginger and white one” was more of a challenge. He’d hang out on the stairs like the troll in three billygoats gruff, hump my legs in bed (despite having been neutered), and press his neck against the rim of the waste basket or the rung of clothes airer to make himself choke, and his favourite hobby was licking plastic bags. The rescue wondered how on earth we were going to get him adopted with all these weird behaviours.
I wondered too for a little while …
If I’m honest though … I think I knew from the start … I was in love. The “fat ginger and white one” was named Jango … and has been adored here for the last 9 years.
He’s a strange and awkard cat … scourge of cat sitters and vets alike he can be quite scary to those who don’t know him (and occasionally to those who DO!) but he’s very deeply loved.
I’m praying that I’m wrong … but I fear this will be the last gotcha-versary that we get to celebrate together. He survived pancreatitis a couple of years ago when we thought we were going to lose him. He suffers badly with arthritis … which I believe is the result of abuse in his past … and also accounts for his aggressive behaviour at times. He’s a very very loved “fat ginger and white” cat x
8 Lives: Sheffield 8 Cat Rescue 