Stayers

Tinkerbelle, we were fairly sure, would never get adopted and because of all she’d been through, having been at least twice abandoned, we felt very protective of her.

Grant took her out for walks in the garden and spent as much time with her as he could, since he was the only person she would tolerate.

She deserved better, but there is only so much we could do.

At least in the Kitty Suites Tinkerbelle was safe, well cared for and had enough space. Any other cat approaching her got told its fortune and thereafter stayed clear.

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“M” was never going to be adopted either. He quite enjoyed visitors and he was a very congenial cat, but he was very attached to Grant.

And he did a great job of running the foster quarters.

While I’d never worked out a maximum number of fosters, I clearly couldn’t keep accepting more when I acquired unadoptables.

Or stayers, as they preferred to be called.

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But, to our delight, in July 2012, Emily got adopted. She was a sweet but fussy little cat and we’d despaired of ever finding the right person for her, but it was clear she was very happy in her new home and deeply loved.

It is so obvious when two souls belong together.

Cassidy and Piero had eventually been adopted too, so there was always hope…

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Then this fine fellow turned up.

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He was very happy to take advantage of two daily square meals and snacks we provided.

He’d not been with us long when he became quite seriously unwell, requiring an anxious visit to an emergency clinic. After a day or two, he was on the mend though the nature of the malady was never clear to us.

He decided to build himself up…

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We didn’t overfeed the boy. He simply had sluggish metabolism.

His favourite place was between the rooms on what came to be called Colin’s plank.

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When the weather was fine, he joined the walkers.

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A dog came by for a visit . We didn’t attempt introductions on this occasion, but another day as we returned from shopping, we came upon a little dog running loose in the busy road. We urged it into the car and it climbed happily aboard. Back at the house, we were able to find details of the owner who was not home and said the dog must have got out of the yard.

So, we babysat it for a couple of hours in the suites with Bridget, Macy and “M”. I think Colin may have stayed in the other room with cranky Tinkerbelle.

There have been a few such “rescues”. Dogs just seem to find Grant. We are glad to get them home safely, yet always just a little regretful not to have an excuse for adding to the family.

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But, – we had enough to cope with.

Feral cats want no part of living indoors or being anywhere near people, but when they have injuries sometimes they need help. Little Noir was sporting a nasty abscess. Grant was able to trap him so we could get it treated. He stayed with us until he was well, then went on his way.

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For a while there, it seemed as if every time he turned around, Grant fell over another cat.

In the parking lot he found a kitten with a shoelace tied tightly around its neck, so he brought it in to sort out and then discovered that the kitten’s teen-aged mom was also out there, so in she came.

Brady, the kitten, was soon scooped up by one of the vet-techs at the animal clinic. Sasha, however, worked her magic on Grant who she’d decided was her person, never mind what any of the others had to say about it.

Miss Bossy-boots from the start.

Quite when the name morphed into Dee Dee, or why, I couldn’t say.

There were soon more changes than I could keep up with.

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