National Hug Your Cat Day is unofficially celebrated on 4 June 2022. In honour of our furry feline friends, I am going to be sharing my experience with adopting rescue cats. Approximately 1.2 million cats and kittens enter UK animal shelters every year. Adopting rescue cats, while challenging, is an incredibly rewarding experience.
This article will explain a little bit about what goes into rescuing cats and spreading awareness for animal rescue centres’ causes! I also encourage you to give your cat(s) some extra love on this special day.
Meet the cats!
Say hello to Oreo (front right) and Smudge (back left)! Can you guess why we chose these names?
The boys’ backstory
Smudge and Oreo are semi-feral brothers who were living in an abandoned house with their mother and other siblings. The kind woman who found them contacted Cats Protection and fed them while they were waiting to be rescued. Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat welfare charity. They rescue thousands of abandoned and stray cats every week across the country.
There were eleven kittens altogether, and nine were able to be rescued and rehomed. Smudge and Oreo were included in the nine. They were approximately six months old when they were rescued. They were given all the necessary injections and flea treatment by Cats Protection before moving into their foster home. Foster homes are where rescued cats go to live until they’re adopted. Volunteers look after the cats full-time, which helps them to get used to human contact at the same time.
The Cats Protection has branches open all over the country. Their website showcases all the cats looking for their forever homes based on branch location. If you or someone you know is considering getting a cat or kitten, consider adopting from Cats Protection!
Coming out of their shells
At first, Smudge and Oreo were very timid. They hid together in a cove we created by draping a blanket over two boxes, and they were constantly on high alert. They refused to eat their food unless they were certain it was safe, so we put down their bowls and left the room so the knew we weren’t just trying to coax them out of their safety.
After the first week, they began growing more confident walking around the house, as well as around me and my parents. Their personalities started coming out as they gained more trust with us. We were able to play with Smudge using a shoelace, which he would chase around and pounce on. Oreo immediately seemed more cuddly, coming up to us for strokes and tickles more often. He’d also use his paw to put your hand in the place he wanted tickling.
It was clear that they began to feel comfortable in our house when, every night at around 10 o’clock, they would have what we called the ‘mad half-hour’, also known as ‘the zoomies’. They would sprint back and forth between the living room and the dining room, jumping up and down the armchairs whilst chasing one another. It was very entertaining to watch.
It was also obvious that they were quite food-oriented. We think this is because they had limited food before being rescued from the abandoned house. Smudge especially can get quite territorial over his food, and we can’t leave any food out or unattended, both cat food and human food, because Smudge will find it and eat it. He also sometimes tries to steal Oreo’s food! Unbelievable, Smudge!
Same litter, different cats
Upon them growing more comfortable around the house, their differences also become apparent.
Oreo loves to explore the garden, smelling the plants and the air, and sometimes causes mischief by digging up the flowers. He also loves to lounge in the sun on his favourite armchair by the living room window. On nights, he likes to cuddle up on my mum’s lap and go to sleep while being stroked.
Smudge likes to greet you in the morning by jumping up onto your bed and rolling over onto his back for tummy tickles. After that, he doesn’t like too much fuss over him. He prefers to lay out of the sun, usually in a quiet room where people aren’t coming in and out. He is much more excited for food time, and likes to meow loudly to let you know he’s hungry!
Inseparable bond
The most apparent thing we noticed between these two cats was the bond that they had. As kittens, when they could fit, they would sleep in one bed together, day and night. They would play together, explore together, and would have conversations with one another. The first photo we ever received of them while they were in their foster home was of them cuddling, and they still have naps together today! It’s amazing to see that, despite the difficulties they faced during the first six months of their life, they were able to form this strong bond with one another.
Our commitment to our cats
While adopting rescue cats is rewarding, there are some difficulties that come alongside the rewards.
Firstly, rescue cats require a lot of patience. It can take them a lot of time to adjust to their surroundings, to people, and to routine. This means patience is a must when it comes to looking after rescued cats. Pushing them out of their comfort zone too soon might prevent them in developing trust with you and their surroundings.
Secondly, rescue cats need a lot of space to do their own thing. They can be timid, or even scared, and can lack confidence in themselves and their movements around your house. We found that giving them the space to explore on their own terms was helpful to letting them know it was safe for them to do so.
We also found that talking quietly, both around them and to them, helped to let them know we were not threatening to them and they didn’t have to be scared around or of us. Once they realised that we weren’t going to harm them, their confidence grew immensely.
Finally, rescue cats can be very insecure and anxious creatures. We found this to be especially true when new people came into our house. They would run and hide somewhere out of sight of people but where they could still see what was going on. It’s important to ensure their hiding places around our house are kept available at all times, so if they do suddenly need to hide, they have the option.
The takeaway message
Adopting rescue cats is not an easy task, because of their deep lack of trust and security. However, it is extremely rewarding to see them gradually gain more trust with you and more confidence in themselves. Looking back to how they were when we first welcomed them into our home, I’m proud of how far they have come. Their so much more comfortable, and it allows them to be themselves and let their personalities shine out. They no longer hide their playfulness or their desire to be stroked and cuddled, which, in my opinion, is the most rewarding part!
This National Hug Your Cat Day, I’ll be giving Smudge and Oreo a lot of love and praise. After all, they deserve it!