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Marbles!
Having decided, in my flat with no garden, on getting a cat after learning that some must be kept indoors, I registered with 4 rescue-centres near me; Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Celia Hammond Animal Trust (headquarters in Lewisham), Cat Protection: North London branch and Paws4Life.
I must say how impressed I was with the dedication and hard work of all the staff, and often many are volunteers…Britain truly is a nation of animal-lovers! To see so many dogs and cats without a home, it was sad to see how often people take pets for granted, be it through the ‘Christmas-factor’, poor ownership behaviour, non-neutering or neglect and abuse.
On the other hand, the most loving owners could sometimes not continue to care for their pets if there were financial reasons, a relationship break-up, housing restrictions, etc. So all the hard work by the rescue-centre workers is to be admired. And it was heartening to see those same pets whisked away by new owners, both eager to share a new home together.
And so…on to me! I had chosen my cat!
And he was called Duke! A sweet looking white and ginger tom, 13 years old, whose owner died and needed a permanent home. I was sold! After a home visit, the lady running the rescue-centre said she needed to check with Duke’s foster carer if she didn’t want to keep him on and when I could collect him…it didn’t skip my attention that the carer had not replied to the lady’s email saying Duke had found a home. But next week came and as promised she rang to let me know the score…but it was not to be, the carer had fallen in love with Duke and decided to keep him!
Happy for Duke, but sad for me…the search continued!
Browsing through the different cat galleries for a week, at the same rescue-centre I found the perfect match! A pair together – so no need to be cautious of 2 stranger cats not getting on – China and Purrdie were a mother and son, 16.5 years and 16 years old. The owner could no longer afford to look after them, and I was delighted to offer them a home…the picture was so sweet! And I fell in love with the idea of a mother and son pair of cats needing a home and love that I would have so happily given. So early-July came…and then a phone-call, the owner had changed her mind because she apparently wanted to stay in touch with the new owner (me) to visit the cats (which was not allowed by the rescue-centre, but pictures / updates were) and that her son moving down the road was able to take them.
Hooray for China & Purrdie…but no joy for me again!
The weeks passed, my cat viewing upped it’s pace, with some cats not suitable, some cats taken, until life got in the way and the cat-hunt had to take a back-burner for a while.
And then…
…Marbles!
At Cats Protection North London…in the gallery…2 cats were indoor-only. Both had FIV – feline immunodeficiency virus. Just like HIV in humans, it attacks the immune system, and to stop the spread of this amongst cats, vets recommend cats with FIV to remain away from the cat community. FIV is spread mainly through cat saliva when cats fight and bite, and not really through sexual fluids; female cats often get it when the male cat bites the females neck during mating.
Despite a compromised immune system, being kept indoors means that most FIV cats suffer few long-term problems. However, some owners are reluctant to adopt an FIV cat, partially because getting pet insurance is difficult, and partially because perhaps there is also a stigma attached to FIV as with HIV. For the record, FIV cannot be transferred to humans to become HIV if someone was bitten by a cat…it has never happened and is unlikely to.
So I headed down to rescue-centre where the 2 cats were a 12 year old ginger tom…called Ginger! And then Marbles, a 7 year old white and tabby ctom. Considering Ginger…I saw he had been reserved, awww. And then I saw Marbles, playful, handsome, inquisitive…and then he bit me! Not hard, but some rescue-cats like Marbles are strays / have been strays for a while so may have a somewhat less domesticated decorum. I was told he had only bit one of the staff once. Hmmm. But I like a challenge, and I was commited to getting an FIV cat especially if others might overlook one…he had been waiting since April to be homed!
So I said yes! I couldn’t wait. Now I just needed a playmate. And as if by magic, Battersea rang days later after I informed them I was adopting an FIV cat and was looking for a playmate; they had taken in a female (what I wanted, boy and girl!), 7 year old cat tortoiseshell who had to be kept indoors…as she also had FIV. Molly!
Marbles & Molly!
I could hardly wait till Sunday 8th August to get them. A stressful day, starting with driving to Battersea for Molly. Brought in the cat-carrier I had bought, she was miaowing away with stress…my heart melted, I wanted to get her home quick! It took a while for her to be micro-chipped, given the once over by staff and then have her up-to-date health status explained. And then off to Holloway for Marbles, again a few low miaows, with the same staff lowdown. By the time we got home, I had hoped that by placing them face-to-face in their individual carriers and adopting them on the same day, it would ease the stress of them going to a new environment.
Carriers in my hallway facing each other, Molly was the first to be unleashed. Full of curiosity, she eagerly peered around, marking her scent as she passed. And then Marbles…prepared for a fight, I was relieved to see no fur-flying…but he just sat in his carrier! Tipping him out, he walked passed Molly…pleasant, unassuming, sweet…until she hissed! He scampered off. As the day progressed, Molly’s hissing turned to pouncing in his direction! Poor Marbles!
Though no fights occurred, I kept them seperate. After a week, I’m pleased to say that while she has remained frosty (such a diva) she has definitely thawed. She is very much a lap-cat but does not like her back being touched. Marbles is a pensive vocal cat who loves his food and head-butting. The first night Marbles was miaowing desperately outside my bedroom door to come in. I didn’t cave in…but it’s only a matter of time! Bless him, his repeated attempts at trying to be friendly with Molly often results in her glaring him away, but after a few stern talkings to, she allowed him a ‘nose-to-nose sniff’ for the first time yesterday. She’ll make friends in no time!
So there we have it. Marbles and Molly! Early days all round for us three, and not without Molly’s initial poops outside the litter tray (!) or Marbles’ constant quest to eat!…but coming home from work, and seeing them lounging in my flat, it’s lovely to see the hard work paying off and them enjoying me and my home.
Molly!
Hello!
Question: What is Britain’s favourite pet?
Answer: Dog? Rabbit? Sugar Glider? (OK, not this last one by a long-shot…but they are soooo cute! Click here!) No…it’s cats! Previously holding our top sofa-spot, cuddly canines have been moved into second place (6.6 million dogs) by those feline friends (7.7 million cats. Source: Cat’s Protection).
Having lived on my own for sometime while enjoying the company of loved ones who visit / host, currently the daily grind of work and postgraduate study and sometimes feeling lonely led me to decide, “Fiez needs a pet!”.
My first pet at my family home was a lovely ‘chinchilla-furred’ grey rabbit, Tenpin…who astonishingly lived from when I was 14 years old to 23 – 9 years!
So now living in a second-floor flat with a balcony but with responsibilities of study amongst other things, I plunged straight into the web for all things animal! (Pets, that is…ah-em). Dogs – love to one day, but when I have more commitment. Rabbits – want them to have a garden and already had one. Chinchillas – always loved one!…but a little too high maintenance right now. Ferrets – really playful, but really smelly. Cats – again always wanted one, independent, social, not too time-consuming – perfect!…but alas, not being able to have a cat-flap I would never want to restrict one indoors…
…that is, until I investigated rescue-cats!
First stop was the famous Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Famous worldwide for housing stray dogs since 1860 (that’s 150 years!?), some may not know the home started taking in cats shortly after in 1883. Viewing the website half-heartedly, I imagined how nice it would be to home a cat, when to my surprise the drop-down list offered cats not requiring a ‘garden’. ??? No garden? Reading more, I realised that vets recommend some cats can only be kept indoors, such as for medical reasons, or being elderly…and as such are desperately looking for willing owners! Hoorah…I shall get a cat after all! 
Early May this year I visited the home…you’d be heartless to not fall for at least one of the forlorn faces looking up at you wanting to go back with you! After registering, the staff must do a home visit to assess suitability, and a couple of weeks later a pleasant chappie in a rather fetching Fred Perry polo-T ( 
) came to my humble abode! The half-hour chat allows the assessor to note how big my home is, number of rooms, whether there is balcony access, etc and give advice and answer any questions before – if successful – issuing a ‘pass card’ to be able to pick up a cat right away…and, of course, I passed!
As he left he mentioned it would take a week or so before I got a call, and so I went about ordering cat towers with scratching posts, litter trays, toys and all manner of things to house them in my second bedroom (he suggested as I work and study, 2 cats may be better for each other’s company…yay, I was getting 2 cats now!). And so I waited. And waited. And waited…! Browsing the website, suddenly the ‘indoor only’ cats seemed to have all been taken. Hmmm…my ‘cat room’ was looking all desolate, all kitted out with no-one to inhabit!
There was only one thing for it…search more cat homes!
And good ol’ Google didn’t dissapoint – chief UK website for cat-lovers seems to be Cat Chat, a plethora of all things moggie. A very impressive website. It turns out there are absolutely loads of cat-rescue centres across the nation, so I choosing a few nearest to me, I plumped for Celia Hammond Animal Trust (headquarters in Lewisham), Cat Protection: North London branch and the independent Paws4Life.
Contacting them, home-visits were all a necessity…reassuring to know how concerned they were with the cats’ welfare. And so one by one, I waited and was visited by them all…all happy to have me home a cat!
The question was…how long would I possibly wait? I wanted a cutie-kitty!
…CONCLUSION THIS WEEK!…
