Last month, 34 cats and kittens found their forever homes! This month’s group ranged from 8 weeks old to 10 years old. Six kittens adopted this month were born in our rescue and knew the comforts of a warm bed and delicious food and treats from the beginning. Others were strays that needed time to decompress and learn how to become beloved family members over the course of several months. Four of our Forgotten Feline program graduates were adopted, as well as one Lazzy Fund recipient. There were two double adoptions, and three of our long-term foster cats finally found their forever homes!
The road to adoption isn’t always easy—this month, there were some cases where cats required extensive medical care and extremely dedicated and patient foster families. Our rescue relies heavily on donations from our amazing supporters to help us give the cats in our care the best possible chance at long, healthy lives where they are cherished by their forever families. In response to the cats in our program’s needs, we have created our Forgotten Feline program to help scared and under-socialized cats regain trust and confidence. We have also created The Lazzy Fund, which gives a second chance to those cats who have been neglected and forgotten, including cats in need of critical and lifesaving medical care.
Saturn is a recent graduate of our Forgotten Feline program, and after 619 days in our rescue, he was recently adopted with his best friend, Callie! Saturn was humanely trapped in August 2021 when he was just five months old. As he was a young kitten, our rescue decided to place him in one of our foster homes in order to socialize him and eventually adopt him into a loving forever home. During most of his time with our rescue, he lived with one of our fosters, Hope, who specializes in working with under socialized cats.
During his first few months with Hope, Saturn was kept in a large crate for his safety, and for Hope to be able to work closely with him. When he was asleep, he would allow pets, but when he woke up, he was terrified and would stay as far away from Hope as possible. He would show aggressive tendencies and swat. He was not food motivated, nor did he enjoy playing. After a few months in the crate, Saturn was not making much progress, and Hope decided to let him out into her dedicated foster room to give him more space. Initially, Saturn would hide under a futon when Hope came in the room, and when she was not in the room, he would be sitting in a cat tree or looking out the windows. Hope tells us that it was hard to interact with Saturn while he was under the futon, so she changed their routine by moving the futon, which would trigger Saturn to run into his covered bed. From there, she was able to pet him with a back scratcher and feed him treats. As he became more accustomed to the routine, treats became more of a motivator.
While Saturn was making some progress, he continued to hide from Hope. After about a year of fostering Saturn, Hope asked to also foster a friendly cat in order for Saturn to learn that people weren’t as bad as he thought. She also thought a friendly foster would help boost Saturn’s confidence – and she was right!
Callie joined our rescue in September 2022, and is originally from Tennessee. She had been rescued by Purrfect Match Cat Rescue as a pregnant stray who ended up having her kittens at their shelter. After Callie’s kittens grew up and were adopted, she joined our rescue in Rhode Island. Callie is a friendly, loving kitty who loves attention! After she arrived at Hope’s house, Saturn would watch as Hope pet Callie or gave her treats. He started to eat treats that Hope put on the floor, and little by little, he began to come out from hiding when Hope was in the room and there were treats involved. He also started to join in playing when using a wand toy with Callie. Eventually, he gained enough confidence to start eating tube treats that Hope put on the back scratcher. Eventually, that turned into eating out of the treat tube itself, and then finally licking treats from Hope’s fingers. While Hope still couldn’t pet Saturn, he would be comfortable enough to stretch out very close to Hope while she was in the room and show his belly.
While Callie tends to be a bit dominant, that didn’t hinder Saturn’s progress in his foster home. He picked up on many of Callie’s traits and became much more relaxed, even though he still wouldn’t allow pets. He became accustomed to sharing the cat tree with Callie and laying on the futon with her. He learned to play from her – they started chasing each other around and playing with toys together. When Hope would give them treats, Saturn would make sure that he got his fair share.
After Saturn had graduated from our Forgotten Feline program and was ready for adoption, it was clear that he had bonded with Callie – we knew we could never split them up! Prior to Saturn and Callie’s adoption, their forever family spent time with both cats during a meet and greet. While Saturn would not come out from under the futon, they were able to feed him some tube treats by reaching behind the futon. Since Saturn is still a skittish cat, this was no small feat! Saturn and Callie’s adopters are well versed in caring for a shy cat and are taking it slow, which we love! Since they were adopted this past month, we are thrilled to share that Callie has already made herself at home and is helping Saturn acclimate to his new family.
Congratulations to Baby Girl, Bonnie, Brandy, Button, Callie, Chicken, Cocobean, Daffodil, Elodie, Fennel, GPB, Gustavo, Hamlet, Hedgehog, Horatio, Kina, Laurel, Leif, Locust Glen 1, Madeline, Mae, Meella, Momma, Montgomery 3, Nebraska 16, Olive Oil, Patriot, Pong, Sam Adams, Saturn, Simba, Sprout, Thistle, and Valentino for finding their forever homes!
Are you interested in adopting a cat from Ten Lives Cat Rescue? Take a look at our adoptable cats!
How can you help the cats currently in Ten Lives’ care? Sponsor a Forgotten Feline, become a foster, apply for one of our volunteer opportunities, donate to The Lazzy Fund, or purchase a needed item on our Wishlist.