About three weeks ago, I ran a couple of videos on my Facebook page – videos of some Wishers needing homes. I ran the video of precious Zen getting and giving hugs, and I ran a video of the sweet and shy Halo. What happened as a result completely shocked me. I received a call from someone who had seen the video . . . of Halo! Get this – a person who used to board her dog with me at my kennel saw the post and sent it to a friend of hers who was looking for a cat to adopt. The woman I spoke with had literally fallen in love with Halo. I have to say that I was quite shocked. I wasn’t expecting a response to the FB postings, but it was especially surprising that the Wisher who grabbed someone’s attention WAS HALO! I explained to C that I hated to disappoint her but I needed to let her know that Halo was quite a timid gal. I said she would require an adjustment period and that she would not be the come-right-out-and-climb-into-your-lap type. We talked for some time, and by the end of the conversation I couldn’t bear to think that C might change her mind. She was wonderful. And everything she told me convinced me that this was THE home for Halo. We even set a date for the following week to meet and complete the adoption. As I was floating around over the next few days hoping C would not change her mind, she was moving around in her world hoping I would not adopt Halo to someone else. I received a text from her saying for me to please not adopt Halo to anyone else and that she couldn’t wait to get her.
Poor Halo was one of the cats from the huge group I took on several years ago. The home was overrun with cats and kittens. My daughters and I ended up getting them all. Halo, as far as we could tell at the time, was a young adult who’d had at least one litter. She was shy even then, but very sweet. She was eventually adopted into a home that became too chaotic over time. She was then shifted to a family member’s home, but that family member ended up not being able to keep her. Once I found out about these things, I couldn’t get my sweet Halo back fast enough. She went into one of the cathouse rooms and slowly proceeded to hide from everything. Husband and I finally built an enclosure in the third cathouse room, and Halo happily moved in. She became quite content in her enclosure. But I was tortured by it. An enclosure is certainly better than a cage – but it’s NOT enough for a lifetime. In addition to her world being so small, she was desperate for my attention when I would step into her enclosure to clean it and pet her. She even tried to grab me when I would get ready to step out. I wanted so badly for Halo to end up in the perfect home for her – a FOREVER home this time where she could have a human of her own and feel safe and loved.
C started Halo off in the laundry room. The first thing Halo did was to wedge herself behind the washing machine. When she eventually came out, C blocked off that hiding place and gave Halo a kitty hidey hole. So that’s where Halo went every time C stepped into the room with her. But have I mentioned that C is an angel? She allowed Halo to hide while she sat in the room talking to Halo, telling her she loved her, and even reading to her! Halo let C reach in and pet her and eventually even turned her face to the opening to be sure C could reach both sides of her face and ears during these petting sessions. C and I communicated a great deal during the first two weeks. As worried as C was about Halo, and even when I offered to take Halo back, C was determined that Halo was IN her new Forever Home.
Then, on Saturday morning, C had a new story to tell. Halo had shot out of her room and into the largeness of C’s home on Friday. She couldn’t find her and worried that this might be a setback in Halo’s progress. About two o’clock in the morning, C woke up to Halo’s voice. Halo was walking around in C’s room, talking and talking and talking. This went on for the rest of the night no matter what C did. When we talked on Saturday morning, Halo was busy exploring the house. And even while we were talking, Halo came over and asked C to scratch her ears and face and stroke down her back. I told C that it appeared to me they were on their way. C agreed!
As all of you know from reading here, it takes a very special kind of person to adopt a Wisher. I take the tougher cases. Winnie’s Wish requires people who are patient and loving and compassionate . . . and did I mention patient? If you scroll down the sidebar, you can see just how many of these folks I’ve been lucky enough to find. I’ve made a few mistakes over the years, but for the most part, the Wishers have gone into loving (and patient) homes. It’s easy to adopt a "typical" cat. But it takes a special person to take on the responsibility of caring for a needy little furry soul who isn’t going to bounce right into your lap. For those angels, like C, I am forever grateful.
See you next week.