Hi all!

My name is Bree. I've worked with a rescue for the past 2 1/2-3 years. I also have two cats of my own, Clara and Adele, and I also am studying exotic animal training, care and management and someday hope to work with my girls' much larger counterparts.

Hello and Welcome. That would be wonderful to work with big cats!

Thanks! Here's a little more about my girls:



Clara (above left): Clara is almost 3 years old (3 in April!). She was my very first foster! She and her three siblings- Belle, Alexis and Fiddlesticks- arrived at my house at 6 weeks old. Clara was the tiny little runt (see above middle) who had a slight kitty cold. I had hardly had them 3 days when I woke up in the middle of the night to this odd thumping noise- tiny Clara was trying to jump the two feet up onto my bed. I put her up next to me and she curled up next to my legs and fell asleep. I knew then that I was never giving this kitten up for adoption. Clara has been a blessing. She mommies each and every foster kitten I bring home (above right at 3 1/2 mos.). She even tells me when there is something really wrong with a new kitten- if she hisses at a kit, that baby goes into my quarantine area and within 1-3 days they start showing symptoms. She has a better chance of being right than any test I have seen. I thank my lucky stars every day that she came into my life. She is clever and loyal and everyone loves her!



Adele (above left): Adele is 2 years old. Adele arrived as one of my fosters at the age of 3 months with her lovely sister, Adora (above right). When they came to me they were completely feral- I could not change their litter box without thick protective gloves. They had not only lived outdoor for the first two months of their lives, when they were picked up at 2 months they were very sick and sent to a vet. The vet did not socialize these kittens at all. In fact, all they did was medicate them and then left the girls completely alone until the next time for meds. So by the time they came to me, they had only seen humans as bad things. It took 4 months to reach the point where they would stay out from under the bed while I was in the room (see above middle- at 7 months). Adora then made huge strides and began letting me pick her up and would purr when I pet her and she eventually found a wonderful adoptive home. Adele was much harder. After 2 more months of working with her (6 months total) she was at the point where I could lightly touch her back about 60% of the time. She could not go to adoptions, where she would become aggressive and unhandleable. And she was an all black cat (already hard enough to find a home for). After fostering her for a year, Adele had finally settled in. She would come when called, beg for attention, sleep snuggled up to me every night. But she still couldn't find a home. 6 months after that, I realized that she was just meant to be mine. She does not leave my room (even if I leave the door wide open). She welcomes Clara back with meows and grooming even if Clara has left for only five minutes. Adele is a little sneakier as well. She doesn't like me to think she likes the foster kittens. After a few days to a week, she accepts all the kittens- I think of her as my tough-love kitten. She teaches the fosters what the real world is like. But if I turn around and see her grooming a foster or snuggling one, it's like a deer caught in headlights XD. She will immediately move to another space on the bed and completely ignore the kitten she was just cuddling. She is now my shy darling. She loves me and likes most of my family (though for some reason she is completely terrified of my mother) and she and Clara are practically inseparable.

Hi and welcome to TCS! Your cats are lovely and make quite the brood.
A job with big cats would be awesome!

Hi and welcome again!

Adele's story makes me laugh!  Reminds me of the grump in our family!

Adele is so funny. I love to sneak up and catch her grooming a kitten. The look on her face is so funny! If ever a cat could look surprised and innocent at once, Adele could do it. It is a constant challenge with her. I can only do one 'bad' thing every three months (this is usually clipping her claws or replacing her breakaway collar- anything I would need to hold her in one place for.) We are also working on the fact that her claws need to be in when she paws at my arm for petting. But for such a violent feral cat at first...she is my most gentle cat. Despite her claws out pawing, it's merely surprising and never harmful. She used to love bite my wrist when she was really happy while I was petting her- but never hard and would always lick the spot after. My mother thinks she is crazy, but I can't imagine life without her and Clara.

Welcome to TCS!

Adele reminds me of my own Gumby B. Bendy Cat - a former feral foster failure (now I dare you to say that five times fast :lol3: ).

I got Gumby at 6 weeks, she had already attacked several shelter volunteers. She socialized to me, & only me - so after 6+ months of trying to adopt out a black half grown kind of 'anti-social' cat I gave up & just adopted her myself. She bonded very closely to one of my other cats, known as "Uncle Dory". She's an amazing kitty & I wouldn't trade her for the world! :heart2:

I have had only 2 foster that were considered 'unadoptable'. Adele was the second. The first was Lillian, who did almost the same as your Gumby- she was only ever comfortable with me. She became too old for me to foster at the time (she would be 3 yrs old now and I had her 7 months) and I had two cats as well and was not allowed to get a third. I at first promised to adopt her as soon as I was able. She spent 6 months with another foster and never went near her. She was never aggressive, just extremely shy. I was going to adopt her before Adele, but by that time she had a home at an 'unadoptable' home and she had actually started to settle in. She lives with four other 'unadoptable' cats and though she has yet to go near the very kind person caring for her, she has settled in very well with the other cats and I simply did not want to move her around and upset her all over again when she had finally found peace for the second time.

Hi there welcome to TCS