Is Cat Rescue Becoming my Fate!

A few months ago, my wife and I were walking through our village and saw a tuxedo cat scuttling past us with less meat on it than Lord Voldemort on Ozempic!

Concerned for it’s welfare, we followed it into the garden of a nearby house and discovered seven young cats desperately scavenging for food in an upturned garbage bin.

It was all a bit weird, as the house seemed occupied but the cats were obviously living outside in a sheltered space under a tree by the front door. We tried knocking, but no one answered.

“Who the hell would leave cats to suffer like this! Surely the people inside must know they are here?” I said to my wife.

I couldn’t bear to see them suffer, so I went down to the local shop and bought them some cat food. They scoffed it down as though it was their last meal on earth and meowed desperately with gratitude. It was heart-breaking to witness.

The next day my daughter told me there was someone in the village trying to give away cats to children. Apparently a woman had come out of the same house we had visited and said she just didn’t want them!

So while holding in expletives and giving the owner the benefit of doubt, my wife and I decided to try and find ways of rescuing every single one of them. And this is where we are almost a year later …

The one we first saw (Voldemort) was re-named Bob and became our very own house cat. He has the most beautiful shiny coat (I ignore the comments about his Hitler-like moustache!) and is treated like royalty. He wants for nothing, and in return we get his unconditional love.

Bob has had an incredible effect on improving my daughters mental health also (which no therapist has even come close to!) So that makes us love him even more.

I’m happy to say that we managed to find a warm hearted neighbour to take another one in (now known as Pip). Then we found a cat rescue for two more, who have now been housed by a couple living in an expensive mansion house. Lucky bloody cats if you ask me!

As for the other three (Gru, Dave and Otto), well at the moment they are living in our garden and still unhoused. We are unable to have them inside due to our ridiculous rental obligations, but they all have little shelters and we feed them every day.

It’s such a pleasure to have them around. At first they wouldn’t go near each other due to the whole cat territory thing, but now they have become the best of friends and happy to be in each others company. We are still trying to find them a new home, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time as they are totally amazing as you can see in the photos!

All this recent cat rescue malarkey has started me thinking it might be something I would like to pursue further. Since losing my job in the emergency services through PTSD, I have felt rather empty at not being able to help people, but my love for cats and the satisfaction of rescuing them has given me a whole new lease of life and sense of purpose.

Perhaps my next step should be to volunteer at a cat rescue. I could learn the ins and outs of welfare, while helping cats in desperate need at the same time. Who knows, maybe one day I could even fund a small cat rescue myself. That would be truly wonderful!

Thanks for reading 😻

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Originally published at https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/is-cat-rescue-becoming-my-fate-5df37e8336da