FIV positive and feral, Tommy was a cat who came to us in January 2023 as a transfer from a rural feral rescue group in Nebraska.
Tommy had been a stray, and this rescue group had been working with him for over a year. He put up enough of a fight to resist getting in a carrier to receive the medical workup he needed. Eventually, this group was able to gain some trust, and they worked with him on socialization and weight management. He was still awfully shy and became overstimulated easily. This, coupled with his FIV+ diagnosis, prompted them to come to us to help Tommy find the right adopter.
A nervous wallflower at first, Tommy only allowed chin scratches from people if they went very slowly with him. After a couple weeks, he was involved in an overnight fight with another shelter cat, receiving a good scratch on his face and fur left behind. He let the medical team treat him, but was so tense and stiff that he was hard to assess. Tommy received his own room until he was sent to a foster volunteer’s home so he could practice socialization in a setting with less stress.
Tommy also needed some dental work, as many stray cats do, and the good news the surgery went as well as it could have. He still swatted and hid during medical checkups, though.
Tommy often wore his sad eyes around the shelter, which may be why he was overlooked for so long.
Despite his fearful behavior, Tommy loved making biscuits, snuggling into cozy beds and watching the birds and squirrels play outside. Some lucky staff members were witness to his purrs when being pet. He made more progress in foster, accepting attention and playing, but not yet ready to seek it out. We had hope that the right family would be able to offer him the stable, understanding environment he needed to flourish.
Seven months into his time at Cat Care Society, that family came along. Yasmine adopted Tommy after coaxing from her daughter to find a feline companion. She had seen the ad for our August Clear the Shelters event and decided to come by take a look at some of the cats. She couldn’t help but notice Tommy, all alone, while many of the other cats had plenty of visitors, and decided to take the chance on him.
Yasmine reports that Tommy has slowly has been coming out of his shell. He is still skittish of any sudden movements, but does come to sit near her with a few feet of safe space in between. He hid in her bed quite a bit at first, and she was scared that her recent move to a new condo would set him back. Much to her surprise, it only took Tommy two days to have the confidence to check out his new space. Progress indeed!
She learned that he likes to eat on a schedule and lets her know at 5:30 that it’s time for his meal. Turns out, Tommy is also quite talkative, and they have plenty of extended conversations from across the room! “I joke that he has a completely separate life from me at night,” she said. “I’ll hear him in the living room playing with his toys and jingle balls, or I will walk past and he will be stretched across the sofa.”
Yasmine is giving Tommy all the time he needs and plenty of pets in his kitty cube. “It will take him a little more time, but that is OK,” she said. “I want him to feel safe. I’m so happy to have him around and glad I was able to give him a home!”
Have you adopted from CCS in the past? We’d love to hear how it’s going! Send us your adoption success stories (and photos!) to be featured in our #adoptionupdate series on social media or on our website.
Feel compelled by our work and want to help more cats in need find loving homes? Please send us a financial gift to provide life-saving medical care and adoption services to cats like Tommy. Donations can be made online HERE (and all funds received from Nov. 1 to Dec. 5, 2023, count for our Colorado Gives Day fundraising goal, with extra opportunities for matching incentive funds. We appreciate your support!
One Response
This warms my heart so so much! I loved Tommy so much at the shelter and I am so thrilled to see he is doing good with his new, loving family. Hearing his little voice in that video made me smile so wide. I am so grateful that Yasmine took a chance on him and is giving him love and the time he needs to connect and get comfortable. I also liked learning about his background which I didn’t know previously.