Our Sweet Buddy

MW

With so many felines to blog about, it’s rare that there’ll be a repeat on one particular cat unless there is a significant change in circumstances – usually that the said cat has progressed from feral to friendly.  But blogging about the Pen 2 tabbies last week reminded me of other tabbies I love, and I did a little visiting around – both personally and on the blog – with that in mind.

PH

I was particularly struck by the blog entry Claire wrote back in 2010 to introduce Buddy. Long-term volunteers will remember that we used to keep the rabbit hutch in the Double-Wide, just outside the med-cage and Buddy would sit on the shelf and visit with Amy and Kringle (and with Kris, after Amy passed). The rabbits were eventually relocated to the New Aids pen (they have now been adopted out), and their hutch was replaced by a set of shelves with cat-beds.

ML

Buddy chose not to relocate. There are a few other cats that you will always find on those shelves – Spike and his BFF, Princess, often Lincoln and Luigi – but you will almost always find Buddy there. Whether it’s proximity to the med cage and the goodies that come out of it, or the fact that very few people go past without offering petting and cuddles, Buddy has decided that this is His Place.

Buddy dressed up for potential adoption - PH

In our recent Adoption weekend, in which Hannah and Birdie, Poosie and Gracie-Mae, and several others all found loving homes, we had Buddy on the list. He’s an older boy – he came in to us fully grown in 2009 and we think he’s probably about 14 years old.  There have been a few nibbles at adoption and they’ve never worked out – and once again, on this weekend, Buddy was passed over for younger, livelier cats. Many of us have mixed feelings. We’d love Buddy to have a home where he has a person of his own, and much love and petting.  But he also has much love and petting with us, and he would be sorely missed.

MW

The majority of the cats at the 5 Road Shelter are looking for adoption – they don’t want to stay in that space, which is a place of transition. Most of our Sanctuary cats feel they have a home; they’ve learned to interact with other cats and they have a lot of human fans. Buddy has made his home on the shelf by the med cage, and we would need to be very sure that any alternative home will give him something better than he already has with us.

Blog by Brigid Coult

Photos by Phaedra Hardman, Moira Langley, Michele Wright