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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.
Bonnie & Hero spent nearly a year with us. We loved them to pieces but it was so sad to see them struggling to find a home. Between them they had quite a list of minor ailments that seemed to put a lot of potential adopters. They were in fact returnees; they'd been with us before when Hero was a little tot. It was beautiful to see their bond had not faltered in the couple of years since we'd last seen them. But unfortunately, Hero was a shadow of his former self- he was so nervous and a real worrier. We built him back up again with love and patience.
When we met their new family, we understood why they'd been with us all that time, fate was waiting for this particular family to be ready. We all wished we could take them home ourselves, so we were over the moon that they found such a lovely home and would be so well loved and understood. They have settled into their new home remarkably well and have become irreplaceable members of the family.
Their adopters had this to say when they gave us an update a year after they adopted them:
"They have settled in so well and enjoying their new life here together. It seems as though they have been here forever. They make us laugh everyday with their antics, sometimes having a play fight, chasing each other then snuggling up together on their afternoon snooze after lunch."
Willow is a cat we can all admire. She has had possibly the biggest turn around in her confidence and behaviour we have ever seen. She gave birth to a litter of four kittens a couple of days after she arrived. She hadn't had time to settle in and get to know us or her surroundings before the kittens arrived and she was terrified, and so were we! She wouldn't let us near them, let alone look at them. But to get her to trust us, we shared her care between just two members of staff, each doing a few days in row to give her as much consistency as possible. She gradually started to trust us, and by the time the kittens were a few weeks old, she allowed us to approach them and handle them. As time went on, we could dare to call ourselves her friends, and she started making friends with all the staff, and later, the volunteers too. She brought her kittens up beautifully and they are a credit to her.
She went from strength to strength and became a playful, cheeky girl and so affectionate. She loved to jump up to your shoulder and rub round your neck and face.
She was such a different cat to the one we met those few months before. So much so that she was able to be placed with a young family. She took to them instantly, climbing onto the children's laps and nuzzling round. We knew from that meeting with the children that it was a great match, she'd have a couple of playmates at her beck and call. And the family understood how to handle and interact with her, being sensitive to her needs and understanding her journey to that point. They are so happy with her and she is well and truly part of the family. She even gave herself the job of Santa's little "helper" at Christmas. Bet she had fun, even if the wrapping took twice as long!
We're so pleased for Willow and her new family, we wish them many years of fun and happiness together.
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!"