My favorite gift is without a doubt Jiji, the 1 year old American Short Hair Boyfriend got for me.
Jiji was confiscated by the city police in August, his previous owners had chained him up outside in their yard with no shelter, food, or water. He was also found with injuries on his face from either trying to escape or fighting off other animals. (They've since healed ). While at the shelter he took so badly to being in a cage that he would rub against the bars causing his face to become swollen. Eventually he had to be moved to a larger cage meant for the cats that have been at the shelter a long time and need the space, but no one showed any interest in adopting him.
1) No one wanted a black cat (which are the hardest to adopt out and the ones most commonly put to sleep)
2) him being a young very energetic cat with no prior 'home' kitty etiquette.
He's litter trained but was behaving in a 'play fighting' manner at the shelter, so no one wanted to adopt him knowing he might take effort to train. Since he was kept chained outside for the first 6 months of his life I believe he just has no concept of the sort of behavior an older cat who had a prior home life would have had.
Because he was being overlooked for so long he was listed as an 'urgent adoption' and it sounds like he was getting close to having to be put down as a combination of people just not showing interest in him and him becoming worse off from being kept in cage after cage.
We adopted him this past weekend with the shelter volunteers warning us he isn't a 'lap cat' and witnessing his play fight behaviors. everyone really loved Jiji but he was getting harder to adopt the longer he was kept in cages without any training.
From the moment he was in our home it was like he lived here all along. All he's done is lay with Boyfriend and I, purr in our laps, and stay by our feet. He mews and chatters with us like he's having a perfectly logical conversation. His previously excitable behavior has toned down
drastically and he has not nibbled or scratched once. It's like he just came right in and was home right away. No time to 'adjust', no hiding under the sofa, no being scared and nervous, he just fit right into our home right away and spent the whole of Sunday begging for tummy rubs.
Everyone at the shelter will be so happy to know how amazingly well he's come into our lives and see that he's like a completely different cat. He's loving, playful, and just such a wonderful little furry guy that I can't believe no one would give him a chance. He's just a wonderful pet to have and I am so glad that we where able to give him a good home.
I plan on making a big batch of cookies to bring over to the shelter volunteers this weekend, they knew Jiji was a good guy and just needed someone to give him a chance.
