Gracie-Mae

This sweet little Persian lived happily with her human owner until the latter suddenly passed away. The person who came to clean out the townhouse unfortunately left a window open, and Gracie-Mae got out. She was a very shy girl, used to being an indoor cat, and an only cat with a single human.  Having got out, she was too terrified to approach people, and had no experience of living in the wild.

 CP

A friend of Gracie-Mae’s owner knew of RAPS, and contacted us for help. Chief trapper Stephanie stepped back from trapping at the nearby composting facility from where she had brought in the cow cats, and she focused on finding Gracie-Mae. The housing complex where she was living was surrounded by green space, so on the one hand, Gracie-Mae had a chance of catching mice and voles, but on the other hand, she was also possible prey for raccoons and coyotes.

BC

Stephanie and I spent several evenings on watch, with traps set – initially set in regular format, but after having caught a skunk, we moved to a remote-trigger trap. No luck – though she was seen around the complex, there was obviously a lot of human noise in the evenings that made her very wary. Eventually med staff Leslie Landa got into the action. Leslie’s a real night owl, and a couple of nights with a number of traps finally produced a scared and very hungry little cat.

hiding (BC)

She came to us at the Sanctuary, rather than to the Shelter – we felt she would do better in the quiet of the Moore House (geriCatrics) than in the Shelter cat-rooms. We kept her caged for some time, to give her a safe space, and to let her settle before decisions were made about her future. Her owner’s daughter wanted to take her, but it would have meant a long flight for the fragile girl, and to a home where there was already a cat, a dog and a baby. Eventually, after a vet-check to make sure she was in good health, the decision was made that she should stay with us, and the door to her cage was opened to allow her to integrate with the other Moore House cats.

MW

Gracie-Mae is still very wary, and prefers to stay in her own space, but she’s now starting to warm up to visitors, and to stand up for herself to feline interlopers in her cage.  She’s about 12 years old, so a senior in cat terms, but she still has good years in front of her, and we hope that someone knowledgeable in dealing with a shy cat might befriend her and some day take her to a new home.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Brigid Coult, Chris Peters & Michele Wright

Update:
Gracie Mae has been adopted to a loving quiet home!  Happy life, little one!