Claire the Foster Kitty

 Look at that face. 

This is Claire and I promised to tell you something about her. A couple of weeks ago, a friend shared a Facebook post from a local organization that places animals in foster and permanent homes.

The bold plea of "Urgent!" went along with a photo of this four year old puss and her brother. The siblings had (not long before) been given away through an ad on an all-purpose website. Soon afterwards, they were no longer wanted by the new people. In her online adoption profile picture, Claire is crouched down, head low, looking fearful.

The new family ended up finding a home for the male cat, leaving the unwanted Claire still with them. For whatever reasons, Claire hid for virtually all of the 3 weeks she was there, or so I was told by the animal group. Apparently, she wasn't the outgoing, friendly cat the family had envisaged.





I'm not anywhere near a feline expert. I've had only one cat, a lovely tabby named Sam who died of lymphoma a few years go at the age of fourteen years.
 
With no foster experience, I took in Claire last Wednesday night. She started off her stay by hiding under the bed or behind the couch, but has been getting increasing more brave. Even by the second night, she was rubbing against my foot. It's hard to know for sure what went wrong in the last household. Perhaps it's as simple as Claire's somewhat shy personality being better suited to quieter surroundings.

As you can see, she's been acclimatizing and likes to flop over for a good belly rub.


Deb, of Just Cats, told me that Claire's beautiful colouring is that of a pastel tortoiseshell. She and several other bloggers gave me some valuable tips and encouragement on how to help this puss settle into her foster home. I'm very grateful to them.

A little time, a little patience, a little affection can make a difference; I'm relearning some lessons on these three things. It's a truism that you get more than you give. As it turns out, Claire's adjustment to her new surroundings has gone much better than anticipated. I admit to feeling relieved about that; I hate seeing fear in an animal's eyes.

Thank you for visiting and indulging me as I get a bit carried away with this lovely girl.