Happy foster gotcha day Hope - 2 months!

This day, two months ago I did the long drive to pickup Hope at the rescue place. She was the most quiet kitty in the car, and didn't complain at all for the whole 50-something mile trip... She had tapeworms, was extremely skittish, quite underweight...
Since that day she has gained a good 2 1/2 lbs back, and is much more sociable. At the rescue place she just hid under the couch; here she doesn't hide at all... She brought a lot of fun into the house, and is a great companion for both Bugsy and Lucky - she loves playing catch, wrestling, hide and seek... She also loves grroming both Lucky and Bugsy .
She is skittish, and still runs from me, but she also runs TO me for love when I am sitting down, or on bed... She is a lick and purr machine!
My plans at first were to rehab her, and find her a home.... Now I just don't know if I would trust someone else to care for her - she is not a "normal" kitty, and would need a true cat lover as a parent.
Right now I need to keep her as a foster, as I can not commit to the possible extra vet costs (she is very healthy though) - hopefully I can get a job soon, so I can make that decision... Who knows??
If I get a GOOD job..... then my plan is to move to a 2 bdr apartment in my building, for a few hundred $$$ more, and have a cat room - a real cat room that I can also use for fostering!
Happy gotcha day sweet Hope!

Congrats on Hope's progress. I have had Ghost (snowshoe mix) for 3 and a half weeks and I am sooooo in love with him. He is also not a "normal" cat - painfully shy and timid. But he has blossomed to a degree with love and gentle treatment. He only comes out of his bathroom lair at night when the other cats are put away.. and runs to me or back into his hideout at the slightest noise.

Oh, how sweet!!! Hope is a lucky cat and so are you for having her. I "Hope" it all works out, and if she is meant to stay with you as a forever home, so be it.
I know what you mean by a not "normal" cat. Phoebe has been with us for almost two weeks and is still hidding a bit, hissing, etc. She does come to me and only to me when she is ready for some love. She has come a long way and is still progressing....but sometimes I wonder how she would have done at a home without a crazy cat lady like me. She even jumped in bed with me two nights in a row!!!! Hubby was not there though
So congrats to you and your cat family for the milestone. And I hope you find a job soon.....
Ana

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY (foster kitty) HOPE!

Has it already been two months? My goodness time flies!

I like your plan. She was always beautiful, but she has really blossomed under your care.

So how is she going to be spoiled today?

Laurie

Thank you guys... She has blossomed, and is quite the character! She has tons of energy, and is such a loving girl... Some of her ways makes me wonder if she was abused in the past - like she is DESPERATE for food ... So much so that she is paying attention to the others eating while she is eating. She makes sure they don't get more or better. She has this tiny little meow, almost as though she was afraid of being loud... It is sad to think what she might have gone through sometimes... My poor baby... These are some of the reasons why I am having a hard time in trusting her to somewhere else.

I had to laugh at the tiny little meow comment. The traits you're describing are those of a feral more than of an abused kitty. Our rescues all lived outside long enough to not talk at all (feral mums teach their babies not to make any noise). We then rescued Flowerbelle when they were all two, and she was deaf - and talked up a storm. She was 7 or 8 weeks when first rescued, but if her mom tried to teach her not to talk, it didn't take I guess because she couldn't hear anything. Anyway, it took about a year for them to start talking after that, and it took them a while to find their voices. But Tuxedo - not our biggest but our fiercest! - has this tiny little girly meow.

...and when we had to put the boys on a diet because of crystals in the bladder, we had to switch the girls too. No one eats from their own bowls - they all play "musical bowls," we call it. They all seem more interested in what the others have - and this is still the case, seven years later for most of them.

She would still need a special family to understand her needs. But she's surely found a home in your heart.

Happy Gotcha Day Hope!



Laurie

Oh my God Laurie - that makes total sense!
Oh, I am so glad she is safe now! Even more so... She did go to the shelter as a stray, pregnant, and had an abortion spay. She was unadoptable and pulled by my rescue lady... She was going to be PTS.
Being feral explains a lot now - including some scabs she had on her ears...
I am so glad she is in now... She would be in trouble being a tiny white kitty out there!
Yes, she has definitely a home in my heart!!

She definitley sounds like she was a feral kitty. You can also teach her to not run from you, by approaching her very softly, in your body movement and holding your hand out to let her smell your fingers first. She will eventually stop running from you, but probably not from people she doesnt know.

I hope you get this new job, so you can keep her. Its so hard for feral cats to bond with people and it sounds like she has bonded to you quickly.

I hope we are saying Happy Gotcha Day in 10 months. I know from the beginning she has been pulling your heartstrings. You have always been so understanding with her and given her the love she most certainly deserves and helped her come so far already.

Hope

She definitley sounds like she was a feral kitty. You can also teach her to not run from you, by approaching her very softly, in your body movement and holding your hand out to let her smell your fingers first. She will eventually stop running from you, but probably not from people she doesnt know.

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She is getting better - she runs to be a few feet ahead of me, stops, and waits to see where I am going... she does this until I get to my final destination - then I sit down, and I am able to pet her It's almost like she is running from me, and walking with me at the same time, if that makes any sense . I think part of the reason is that I feed her in separate for now, as her food is a mix that Bugsy can not eat 'cause of allergies. So she got used to follow me for food.

I hope you get this new job, so you can keep her. Its so hard for feral cats to bond with people and it sounds like she has bonded to you quickly.

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Me too... The rescue lady said she was so miserable in her place... She lived under the couch, barely to be seen... She is so comfortable here

I hope we are saying Happy Gotcha Day in 10 months. I know from the beginning she has been pulling your heartstrings. You have always been so understanding with her and given her the love she most certainly deserves and helped her come so far already.

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Thank you Pami - I hope so too... Now that this high possibility of her being a feral arose, I really don't want to give her up to someone expecting a normal kitty... She is a lovely sweet little girl, but she does take a lot of patience and 101 care... Well, I will need to tell the people in that company this story, and that they NEED to hire me because of it!

Did they give you an idea of when they would be making the final decision?

Yep - I should know in the next few days... Probably Monday....
The owner told me that in case I don't get hired right now, he would like to either put me on a wait list for the next few months, or, if I agree, refer me to another Company that was also there in the social event. It does look really good, but still, there is competition... And it is a high salary job, and I am one of 2 women, competing with a whole bunch of men...... in a male dominated industry.......... sooo..... Oh boy - I want that job!!

Wow that sounds really promising that if they dont hire you he will refer you to another company. I hope you get this one, but thats a great fall back plan!