Village of Second Chances

"This is a story about a cat name Benny…. 

About 2-3 years ago Benny (female) trapped as part of the Kanata Valley Cat “TNR” (Trap – Neuter – Release) program. She was captured, vetted (spayed, tattooed), and then released. They believed Benny to be about 1 year old at the time. She did not show signs of being able to be rehomed, she was feral. Fast forward a year she was trapped again, there were no visible tattoos (they had dissolved). Initially she was to be another “TNR”, at this time they did not realize it was Benny. At the vet, belly shaved ready to be spayed they realized this cat had been there before and that it was Benny. Tattooed again and at her foster home recovering they noticed she was showing signs of affection and that this cat had potential to be rehomed. After spending time in this foster home with other cats they did notice that Benny was starting to passively bully the other cats – things like laying across the doorway into the room where the litter box or food was. The foster believed Benny may do better in a home without pets. 

This is where my part of the story begins. Over the previous few months before I lost both my cat and my dog (separate events). My heart was broken, and I really did not feel ready to love another animal. Fostering seemed like a great choice, I could help this cat but not get attached (little did I know). We planned to meet the current foster at the Esso in Lumsden to pick up Benny. On the drive home Benny was very calm in the kennel, didn’t make a sound. Already such a good girl. In our inexperience, we opened the kennel in our living room when we got home. Benny very quickly bolted out of the room and hid under the couch in the basement. We gave her some time, but she was not coming out. We should have done this in a bedroom where she was more contained, we thought. The next couple of weeks we never saw Benny. She moved from under the basement couch to under the family room couch upstairs when people weren’t around. I had her food and litter box in a place that she could get to safely without interaction with us. If it weren’t for the empty food dish and prizes in the litter box each morning, you’d never know there was a cat in the house. We’d lay on the floor and talk to her, without making eye contact – because I read that was a thing with cats. My daughter was able to feed her some wet food off a long spoon. But still she hid every day all day. I setup “spy cameras” so we could see her moving around at night while we were sleeping. We were getting impatient and coming up with plans to try and catch her and maybe move her in a room with less places to hide. I thought I would have to set a trap inside my house if anyone ever wanted to adopt this cat. Everything I read said don’t force it, let them come out on their own time. It could take several days, weeks, even months.

After a few weeks I stopped having food out at night and only put it out during the day so she would have to come out from under the couch to eat. I had it in a safe spot so she could easily hide if someone walked through the room. Each week I moved the food out a little further. Eventually she would come out and eat in front of us, as long as we were seated and not walking around. You could tell from her body language she was still very nervous.

Almost two months later she liked to sit on the kitchen chairs tucked under the table and watch us. We still could not get close enough to touch her. After Benny living (hiding) in our home for about two months she was sitting on chair under the kitchen table. I put some soft food on a long spoon and held it out for her to eat. While she was eating, I was able to maintain eye contact with her, with slow blinks (apparently this is also a cat thing). I reached around slowly with my other hand and touched her. To my surprise she leaned right into it and let me pet her. I was so happy I cried! This was huge. 

That same day I began my on-call shift for work. When I am on call, I sleep in the room where my office is setup to disrupt my family as little as possible. While sleeping I could feel Benny hop up on to the couch. I stayed as still as possible. She began licking my face with the roughest tongue I have ever felt on a cat – seriously course sandpaper! She curled up on my chest and snuggled in for the night. I could not believe it. My family was shocked as during the day she still would run and hide if someone walked through the room. But night after night for that week she slept on me and if I sat on the floor in that same room she would come for a pet. She obviously felt safe in that space. The rest of my family would come in and sit on the floor to get some Benny love and she didn’t disappoint. This was the beginning of my foster failure. I already knew at this point there was no way I was going to let this sweet girl go to another home after it took so long for her to trust us. Six months later Benny is an extremely loved member of our family. She no longer hides when you walk through the room, she comes out to greet us now. She will sit and snuggle in on anyone who sits down for a minute. She is incredibly affectionate – like at a kitten level. It’s beautiful and amazing thing. Her love language is licking and sleeping across your neck or face. She follows me from room to room, waits for me outside the bathroom just like a toddler. She is incredibly playful, again like a kitten. 

The lesson I learned through all of this is to be patient and to allow them to trust us on their own time. It’s worth the wait and so rewarding. Benny lived without a family for the first few years of her life, but you’d never know it from how affectionate she is.

We may have saved her from a life outdoors, but she saved me from my broken heart. We just love her so much!

I hope after you read this that you will consider fostering or adopting – it literally saves lives (and hearts)! Please don’t overlook the adult cats, they have so much love to give and deserve to get some back too."