From Leanne – Kays Hill Animal Sanctuary
An old black and white cat came to us through Silke, our vet. He had been found wandering the streets, very distressed. Some kind soul realised he needed help, so picked him up and took him to the vet.
When he was checked they realised that he had been microchipped. ‘Hooray, he can go home’ – unfortunately not! The ‘gentleman’ who he had lived with all his life, had, a week or so before, given his daughter his cat and the money to take him to the vet to be put to sleep (PTS).
The reason? Simple; he didn’t want him any more. However, the daughter had decided the money would be better in her pocket, so callously abandoned him in an area he didn’t know. He had been wandering the streets for over a week and was tired and terrified, but at least now he was safe.
No doubt it came as a bit of a shock to him to go off to sleep one day soon afterwards and then wake up to find two very important bits of him missing!!
We got a phone call to tell us about this poor cat, who was at least ten years old who had been abandoned so heartlessly by the very person he should have been safe with. ‘Could we possibly take him?’ Of course we could. We called him Marcus. We soon realised what a kind, friendly soul he is.
Marcus loves a cuddle and a fuss and doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. We decided to try him in with Gerty, just to see if that would help her nervousness. It did, to some extent. He was so kind and gentle with her. If she wanted his food there was no grumbling or complaining he would quietly move to the other bowl and let her have his food.
He would curl up with her as if to offer reassurance when she was scared. He doesn’t play with toys but sniffs at them but put a treat in his bowl and loves it!! He has become a bit of a chunk to be honest, but Marcus doesn’t feel the need to run about and do anything energetic, leave that to those young cats.
When Gerty had to be PTS, recently, he grieved for his little friend. We tried him in with Prince for company, which worked for a time, but then Prince started to become a bit of a bully so now Marcus is living with Meg, a nervous cat who has only been with us for a week. We thought as he had done so well with Gerty he could try his magic on Meg. He wants to be friends with her, but for now she doesn’t want to know.
However time has run out for Meg to become friends with Marcus, as, finally, Marcus is going home!! His new family are picking him up tomorrow (1st March) to go and be a much loved member of their cat family. He will have 3 other cats to be friends with – Sammy, Mickey and Yoyo.
Marcus is one of those cats that I’m going to be really sad to see go. Of course we are over the moon that finally he will have his own home but he will be missed. His lovely, smiley face, his big hefty purring and the cuddles you get from him as he rubs his head against your hand, chin, leg, anything at all he comes into contact with!!
To see him go off to his new home tomorrow will be fantastic. After all he has been through and all he has done for the cats in his care he deserves the best. Good luck Marcus, we’ll miss you but I know we will hear about your future adventures.
I agree with Ruth’s comment and my only other thoughts are to provide more litter trays, I think one per cat and one extra is the recommended number, in various safe places around the house and to try different types of litter, e.g clay, fine, woodbased or even earth, the poor lad has had a lot of changes in his life so is sure to be confused, I’m glad his new family are kind and understanding and not about to bring him back to KH.
I wonder where abouts they have put his litter tray? As he was used to being in an enclosed space at KH to use it, he may need somewhere private where he feels safe, such as under the stairs or behind a large bit of furniture.
He’s obviously a bit stressed with his new home on top of losing his old one, straying around, losing his best pal Gerty. They need to be very patient with him, no shouting, when he goes to use anywhere but his litter tray they need to pick him up and gently place him in his litter tray. When he uses it they need to praise him, saying his name every time, such as GOOD BOY MARCUS. With a bit of time and patience I’m sure he will realise he gets praised for going in the right place and he will go there himself …I hope ……