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Happily Homed
Here are some updates from a few of our longer term residents who have been homed. These lovely cats spent longer in the cattery than they deserved, while they very patiently waited for their perfect people to come along. But as we always say "there's a lid for every pot" and their patience paid off. We hope these tales might encourage you to meet one of our current longer term residents and give a cat in need a chance at happiness again.
No one could work out why Jasper was so unlucky with finding a loving new home. He was quite nervous in the cattery, but once he formed a bond with us, he'd enjoy cuddles and would roll around on the floor showing off to us.
He is now so content in his new home, and as you can see, he has made some new feline friends as well.
He has a heart murmur, but this doesn't stop him enjoying life. He loves the outdoors and is honing his hunting skills. He is a cheeky lad, getting up to all kinds of mischief with his new pals. We are over the moon that he has settled so well and got everything he could ever have hoped for.
Dita was with us a long while. She'd had a sheltered upbringing during the lockdowns and this left her poorly equipped to cope with the cattery lifestyle. But after nearly a year with us, she caught the eye of a very loving and nurturing family who genuinely wanted to help her. Seeing her meet her adopter for the first time was spine tingling- there was an instant connection. Dita just knew this was her lady and she was here to love and cherish her.
Her adopter says "After the loss of our last cat, we did not ever think we could love as much again. But after four months I found myself looking at the Bluebell Ridge website as we'd always adopted rescue cats. My heart took a leap when we saw Dita. She had been with the RSPCA for 11 months as she was not overly friendly towards visitors and other cats and had been a lockdown cat at birth, lacking socialisation. I knew for all the reasons of her having had such a tough time and her beauty that she was the cat for us. When I met her it was love at first sight and there was definitely that special connection when you just know you've found your cat. My young son and husband then visited and she was calm and playful despite her tricky background. We can honestly say that adopting Dita at 2.5 years and providing her with the love and security she needs to become calm and loving at home has been incredibly rewarding. Bluebell Ridge are an amazing team, always on hand with advice and the care they give their little charges provides the foundation for all these beautiful cats to find their ultimate home, whatever their background. I could not recommend them more."
Pepper was one of our longer residents at the time, and was struggling to get noticed, and cope with being surrounded by other cats in the cattery. She found herself stuck in loop, unable to relax and show her true nature, (although we could see glimmers of the Pepper she wanted to be), making it more difficult for adopters to take a chance on her. We were overjoyed when her adopters enquired about her, and we thought they were a perfect match. Pepper took to them straight away. It was obvious she was more comfortable with them than she had been with a lot of new people. They understood that all her ailments were likely started from an allergy, but also flare ups caused by stress.
Here are a few words from Pepper's adopters: "We saw Pepper on the Bluebell Ridge website and fell in love. When we visited her we discovered that, (perhaps because she was deaf and a bit standoffish, with a delicate constitution), she had been at the cattery for over six months and had attracted very little interest. But that didn’t bother us, having had family cats with big personalities when we were growing up, we took the plunge. As soon as Pepper came home with us, away from the stresses of other cats (who she wasn’t very keen on!) in the cattery, we were amazed by the change in her character. She seemed instantly at home, and quickly showed us she is a very social cat who loves to play. Her gastric problems may have been caused by stress, as they’ve vastly reduced since she joined us, and she compensates for her lack of hearing with her excellent sense of smell - she loves to sniff and explore! We expected it might take a bit of time to win her trust, but very quickly she was sitting on our laps. It just goes to show that, with a loving and patient home, a challenging cat can become a wonderful companion. We have found the experience of adopting a ‘problem cat’ more rewarding than we could have imagined, and would thoroughly recommend it!"