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ROGER WAS ADOPTED OCTOBER 6, 2007!
UPDATE: OCTOBER 8, 2007
Here is an update on our new big boy cat Roger. Well the very good news is he is not hiding, he is following us around like a little dog, or lies out on a table, or the middle of the kitchen floor (or room we are working in). He and the dogs seem like they have known each other for years, with no anxiety or positioning at all. Yesterday the three were all shoulder to shoulder together watching me out the front door. My 3 senior citizen cats have made it clear that they do not even see Roger, they are completely ignoring him. They walk past each other and all look the other way. The first night there was some hissing as Roger wanted to sleep on my lap, and 2 of the old guys feel strongly that my lap is their place. Roger found my husbands lap and all is quiet. He loves to sleep with Kevin, and has not even looked into his crate since it came over with him. He has tried to find some secrete hiding place in the basement, one he found behind a laundry basket. I had a nice soft old sweater all ready there, I think he thinks he found the spot all by himself. So far so good, he seems like he has been here for a long time. He is just as sweet as he can be. Is eating and using the litter box, and just being a cat.
ROGER'S STORY:
Roger got himself caught in a humane trap and was brought to the shelter. It was assumed he was a feral (wild) cat. When feral cats are set up in cages at the shelter, a small cat carrier is placed inside the cage. The cats tend to stay in the cat carriers when people are around since they are very fearful of people. That works to our advantage because we can merely reach in, shut the carrier door, and remove the cat from the cage so the cage can be cleaned. Roger was set up like this in his shelter cage. However, when we were at the shelter helping out with cleaning the cat room, we found that Roger was not in his carrier, rather UNDER it. What to do? We reached in and got the carrier off of him and positioned it differently with the intention of prodding Roger into it with a stick. Roger would not budge. Roger also did not hiss, which seemed out of character for a feral cat. We ended up putting on gloves and stuffing Roger in. And it was no easy task - Roger is a BIG boy and barely fit into the cat carrier. But he never resisted us and we started thinking maybe Roger was not a wild cat at all. He certainly was not playing the part. Roger remained at the shelter in a catatonic state. He simply reacted to nothing and sat squished in his tiny carrier inside the tiny shelter cage. He was thoroughly traumatized by the whole experience. Roger was brought to a foster home to overnight prior to neutering the following day and within hours he perked up and his personality started to show. He craves attention and is not a wild cat at all. He is a total love bug. When you sit on the floor he walks circles around you while doing head butts. He rolls over for belly rubs. He loves to snuggle in the crook of your arm to watch television. Roger sleeps on the bed with the dogs. If the dogs get rowdy, he will simply go elsewhere but as long as the dogs are quiet, he hangs out with them. There was no way we could take this sweet boy back to the shelter where he would go back into a depression, not to mention the fact that with the competition of kittens and younger cats, he stood no chance of finding a home. He will make a great companion for somebody. So he will remain in his foster home until he is adopted.
Roger is about 8 years old. He has been neutered, treated with Advantage for fleas, dewormed and has had rabies and distemper shots and is microchipped. Roger has also tested negative for feline AIDS and leukemia and has had full bloodwork done, the results of which were normal. Because of his previous life as an unneutered indoor/outdoor tomcat, he did sustain a bite injury to his tail which abscessed and burst. He is on a course of antibiotics which will make him good as new. While he was at the vet's office having blood drawn and his wound tended to, both the veterinarian and technician remarked what a great patient Roger was. Cats don't normally cooperate so well when messed with like that. He is such a laid-back, easy-going guy, he should do great in just about any type of home.
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