Gizmo the Grey
The Cat Sanctuary has recently welcomed several new cats who are finding their places in the various different areas.
As much as possible, when a cat comes to the 5 Road Shelter, we try to find a new home for it. The staff try to match personalities with potential adopters, and mostly it works – but there are always the exceptions. Several of our cats failed adoption for reasons of aggression and were transferred to the Sanctuary because they were no longer considered adoptable.
Gizmo (known as Gizmo the Grey, so as not to confuse him with the recently departed orange Gizmo in the Moore House) was trapped as a feral. The people who trapped him were willing to keep him, but Gizmo was not a happy camper, and was more than ready to attack, given the least provocation. At the Sanctuary he was caged for a while, and took a very dim view of this, swatting at other cats through the mesh of his enclosure. We were not at all certain of whether he might eventually be relocated to the feral pens at the back, and the Kitty Comforters were very wary when visiting him.
It is interesting that our dark grey cats (almost Russian blue) are all stand-offish or aggressive. We all know Leland in the front courtyard, but Petunia, also part of that group, is a real “don’t touch me!” girl, though she is ready to accept treats. In the Newcomers, grey Chester is another for whom attack is the best defence (with other cats, at least), and his room-mate Willi is the nervous sort. And Sylar, in the back courtyard, won’t allow a human near him, though when he was caged for treatment, he was ready to accept petting.
Gizmo is becoming more willing to interact with people, and to accept a caress without returning it with a swat. He may never get to the stage of being ready for adoption – but someone who is feral-savvy and has no other competing cats might be able to give him a home. As with all our semi-ferals, for an adoption to work, there needs to be a strong bond between human and cat, and a knowledge, on the human’s part, of the reading of feline body-language – not to mention a lot of patience! Gizmo’s not there yet, but he’s learning…