On Saturday we will be packing our Maggie's bags and baggage and dropping her back up to the wonderful people in the DSPCA, from where we hope she will be adopted quickly to her new forever home. Our work is almost done.
As you know from my previous post Maggie was one of the wildest and most frightened little cats I have ever encountered. It took us 2 days to coax her out from under our sofa. Then another day or two to get her to start (very gingerly) to play with some feathers on the end of a stick.
It's been one small step at a time and has been a team effort in this house, to finally gain Maggie's trust. We have taught her that humans can be her friends and I hope that none of our species undoes that lesson. We had a secret weapon in our 'taming' of Maggie and that was Simba (fatcat).
I don't want to take from the great credit due to Simba for playing his part but we all know that he was highly motivated by sharing Maggie's dinner which came in jelly and is clearly a lot tastier than the cat biscuits he usually has. But it was amazing to watch Maggie relax almost immediately Simba arrived into the room. Animals never cease to fascinate me.
The first week we had Maggie was difficult. It required huge patience and I did worry that perhaps some cats are just wild and not tameable. But the joy in watching this little scaredy cat slowly make friends with us and learn the joy of being petted and sit on a knee is sublime! Really.
The DSPCA is snowed under in kittens and cats who are looking for homes - permanent and foster. Check out their website www.dspca.ie
I am so glad that you have given her such a good start. Have a wonderful life Maggie! and well done Barbara and the kitten taming crew. :-)
ReplyDeleteBarbara, what a wonderful new start for a damaged little kitten. I don't know how you can bear to give them up, but you help a lot more cats this way than just by taking a few and keeping them. Well done!
ReplyDeleteYay - a good start is so important - our shelters are full this year too. It is so difficult. I can't have cats any more due to allergies but I have had some great ones.
ReplyDeleteA great story about how reaching out and helping will change lives. Sounds like Maggie got a lot out of it and hopefully will find a good home now. Well done.
ReplyDeleteShe's a dote and it's hard to realise what she was like in the first few days. Maybe you could rent out Simba as a Cat Whisperer - he seems to have the knack. Congratulations on a job well done.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to hear about Maggie's time with you. Was it really hard to hand her back though? I'm not sure I'd have been able to do that.
ReplyDeleteNice Maggie. Read your blog it's like a breath to me 'cause I always worry about my job problems and others and sometimes I feel like I wanna give up but reading you blog my energy comes up the I stand up. Keep working hard on this site.
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