Moe came to us as a stray kitten found on the side of the Ballamodha Straight by a very kind lady. Although, Moe was only a kitten he was extremely feisty and particularly nervous who spent the first month hiding under his bedding. We hoped he would make an appearance on his own, but understandably he was very scared. We thought if we put a snug bed in he would prefer it, so when we did he found it reassuring and took to hiding in there instead. Cleaning his pen in isolation proved particularly difficult as every time we went near his bed he would growl and his claws would appear and try and take a swipe at us! Vaccinating him proved very tricky but we managed it much to his dislike!
When the time was right he was transferred up to the cattery, ready for rehoming. His transition to cattery was very upsetting and traumatic for him and he spent most of his time hiding in his bed and using the cabin as his toilet. We tried our best to socialize him as best we could but we all knew it was going to take along time to gain his trust.
Several months past and he did start to make an appearance from out of his snug bed and started using his litter tray, which was the first step. He seemed to take a shine to one of our cattery staff in particular and when he did start coming out of his pen during the morning cleaning he would follow her around like her shadow. She spent time with him and finally he allowed her to stroke him very gently at first and gradually he progressed to allowing full strokes and eventually being picked up but only by her.
We decided he had really turned a corner and felt it would be beneficial to him to transfer him into the social room so he would get used to other cats and visitors to the sanctuary. It took time and a lot of patience but he became more confident and developed into a very social cat, although he would still find his hiding place behind the throw on the sofa reassuring at times. He became one of the most popular cats in the social room and he received a lot of visitors especially those with treats as the way to his heart like most males was through his stomach!
One day though a lady and her daughter came along and showed a lot of interest in Moe and decided that he was the cat for them. We explained about his background and that he may find it hard to adjust to a new environment which they understood and were willing to give him as much time as was necessary for him to settle in. The day came for him to leave us at the sanctuary, and although the member of staff that had bonded with him the most was very upset, she was also happy at the same time that he was going to a very loving home where he would get all the attention he deserved. He left the sanctuary in July 2009 for his new home where he has settled in just fine.
|
