Could you give a loving home to a cat?

With the demands of modern life meaning that in many cases the average household has both partners working full time, those in search of a pet are increasingly considering owning a cat because they are relatively self sufficient and don't tend to suffer anxiety as much when their owners go out to work for the day compared to other popular pets such as dogs.

A sad reality is that some owners don't consider their responsibilities when taking on a cat, particularly the need to get their pet neutered in order to stop unwanted kittens from being born. This leads to some of them being abandoned to fend for themselves, or being taken to an animal shelter where they can be re-homed.

We recently adopted an 18 month old cat from our local Cats Protection centre at Axhayes near Exeter. She had been there for six months, the staff at the centre deserve great commendation for the important work they do, it's obvious to see that they love the animals in their care and do everything they can to make sure the cats are given the very best treatment.

When we adopted our cat, the Cats Protection centre had already ensured that she had been spayed, having already had two litters of kittens at the tender age of 12 months, she was barely a kitten herself.

Our cat also had a month of free pet insurance courtesy of Cats Protection, which I must stress is very important, as vet bills can be very expensive, so it is vital that any potential owner should continue to pay for this important service which would stop any potential suffering of your new pet.

If you are interested in giving a loving home to a cat that has had a bad run of luck, get in contact with your local Cats Protection centre, they will arrange for a home visit, and once the formalities have been attended to, you can call in and find a cat to take home and become a part of your family.

The biggest problem you are likely to encounter, is which cat to choose. It was really difficult to do, there were lots of lovely friendly cats all vying for our attention. The one we chose was a very pretty black and white cat, who was initially very timid, and didn't come blustering out of her pen when we opened the door, as many of the others did.

Pyewacket

There was something about this dear little creature (now named Pyewacket) that endeared us to her, it seemed obvious that she was affectionate but she was very nervous and shy at first. When we first got her home we followed the advice given to us by the staff at the centre, we kept her in our spare room initially so that she didn't get stressed, having gone from a pen enclosure to a big house would have been a big shock for her.

For the first few days she would hide behind some boxes in the room, but after some gentle coaxing she graduated to sitting in the bedroom window surveying the world outside. After what seems like no time at all, she now wanders around the house as though she owns the place! She loves to jump up on the sofa and snuggle up to us, where she can get lots of attention and love.

When we first had her we were advised to block off our cat flap incase she was to get out and run away, we have more recently been leaving the cat flap open on a more regular basis and she will now disappear for sometimes up to a few hours, which I must admit had us worrying the first time whether she would  find her way back, but she seems to know where she is loved :)

If you think you could give a loving home to a deserving cat follow these links: Cats Protection UK
                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                   Axhayes Centre