Shelter Me Inc placed 28 'hard-to-adopt' cats in barns in 2011. However, cats being the unpredictable creatures that they are, often demonstrate transformational behavioral change. Recently, a barn cat owner sent us a hilarious, touching email on precisly this subject. The writer is Erin Willett of Smaht Fahm. Not coincidentally, she adopted two cats whom we helped rescue from a hoarder's house. It is not just amazing that the cats survived, but that they became loving pets. A picture of one of the cats sitting with two of his housepals is posted with this article.
Letter from Erin: It's been a very busy couple of months! Watson (grey and white) and Darwin (black triple pawed) are doing fantastic, we really love them. I've never had cats who act like the whole world is there to love them, but that's the perfect description of these two cats. When they lay down, they sprawl, paws out, very relaxed. We joke that Watson isn't really part Himalayan, that his face is really smushed because he's constantly ramming it into people and things to snuggle!
The barn cats moved in last month, permanently. They were quite happy in the barn, but also had fun sneaking into our house when the garage doors were open. Then they found napping spots and just sort of never left. They do occasionally go out, but they're smart, they know where the warmth is! Now we have a barn full of mice and a house full of cats but we're all happy! Our two house cats have welcomed Darwin and Watson and they all play. We were in denial for a while about them turning into house cats, but last week I came across two cat collars (our own house cats would not be caught dead in such things) and I put them on the boys, thinking they'd thrash about and take them off like the wild, untamed beasts they are. Nope, just the opposite, I've never seen two cats more proud to wear their collars ever. Darwin and Watson even strutted over to show our two dogs. Everyone gets along, everyone is happy! Watson even thinks he's a dog sometimes.
I often wake up at night buried in cats, one at my feet, one at my knees, one at my hip, one at my head, but they're such snugglers, I can't resist. We certainly didn't plan on having four house cats, but here we are. Darwin provides a personal bathroom escort in the middle of the night, then meows to be carried back to the bed, whereupon he gives a great triple pawed massage. They're such lovebugs, we really adore them, thank you for them!
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