I lost my rescue cat, Candy, in September 2018 after 10 wonderful years and it wasn’t long before the house was definitely missing a feline presence. As a Cinnamon Trust dog walking volunteer, I follow them on social media and spotted an appeal to rehome three Persian cats. I responded to say I was interested and subsequently a home check was carried out which was successful. Alas, this time it wasn’t to be and the cats were fostered elsewhere, probably for the best as I then discovered I would be deploying to Afghanistan in my role as an RAF Reservist at the end of 2019.
As I came to the last few weeks of my tour and my thoughts started to return to home, I realised I was still going to miss having a cat around and that it would be nice to have a pair so that they could keep each other company. I wrote an email to The Cinnamon Trust at the end of January to say I would be coming home in a few weeks and to please bear me in mind if they had any pairs of cats looking for a long-term foster home. The next day, I received a reply to say they had a family of 3 whose owner was anxious to ensure that they would get settled somewhere together. I was sent a photo of Amber and Teddy, the 4-year-old cream British Shorthairs and Ozzie the 5-year-old black Oriental Shorthair and immediately fell for them. A few phone calls later and it was arranged that they would move in with me the week after I returned to the UK.
At midday on 20th February, three cat carriers and an abundance of kitty paraphernalia arrived and I was instantly smitten. As expected, from reading the background information on their personalities beforehand, Teddy was first out of his crate and did a lap of the lounge sniffing everything. Within half an hour of arriving they were all huddled together under a chair in the corner, but by the evening they’d all come and found me in the bedroom – Teddy already demanding tummy rubs!
It didn’t take long for their characters to begin to show; Teddy is definitely the bravest, always making me smile and the most demanding – he thinks nothing of batting me in the face at 4:30am if he fancies a cuddle! Amber is an absolute little sweetheart, she is the first to appear at the sound of a packet rustling and loves to curl up at the end of the bed all night. Ozzie has been the most reserved, it was obvious he craved attention but was often too anxious to stay around for long. It is only in the last month or so that we have seen him come out of his shell and lie fully stretched out around the house which has been lovely to see. To have been able to watch him slowly settle in has been such a rewarding experience and I feel like we have a special bond now; he is a really loving cat, the fussiest about treats but adores catching and eating flies and, being Oriental, he enjoys a chat.
All three cats are an absolute joy to have around. I had a cat flap fitted to give them access to the back garden and they can almost always be found either playing outside, curled up on the beds or wherever I am in the house. I find myself constantly taking pictures of them because they are SO CUTE!
