I own multiple cats, and like most pet owners, I don’t have favourites. But, honestly, I have a soft spot for Mojo.
My beautiful silver tabby boy makes my heart melt every single day.
Mojo started out as a feral cat, born into a population too close to humans to live wild and too far away to be considered a pet.
Someone was wise enough to trap him, get him neutered, tattooed, vaccinated and into Katie’s Place animal shelter. He was only seven months old when he first showed up and not at all interested in the big humans who had completely changed his world.
Then he got used to the volunteers and just stayed out of their way.
Long and lean with strong silver and grey stripes, he strikes a handsome pose that caught the eye of many potential adopters.
So why wasn’t he snatched up right away?
He was painfully shy.
For seven years he remained at the shelter. He was warm, fed, given medical treatment when needed, feline companions. But it’s not home.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and convinced my husband that surely we had enough room for one more cat.
Again, Mojo was trapped, this time with a soft towel and a hug, put into a carrier, and I took him home.
For two weeks I put him in a spare bedroom so that I could make sure he was getting enough food and water and that he couldn’t get into any small dangerous spaces.
Once the door was opened, he spent three weeks hiding under the bed, six more months running from the room when we entered, and two years after that, accepting our presence.
He was quite happy to hang out with the other cats.
We are now into Year 3 of him being part of our family and to date he has been healthy. Even though he has gained a lot of confidence around humans, I believe I am still the only one he will allow to hold him and give him the cuddles he adores.
During one of these precious sessions, my heart nearly broke when I found a pea sized lump in his neck.
By some cosmic intervention, I got him into the carrier with minimal chaos and off to the vet, who was appropriately gentle. Mojo still needed to be sedated to inspect the lump.
Once he was under, the vet removed a benign tumour from his neck. I picked him up after surgery and took him home. He was quieter than usual, still a little sedated and probably a little ticked off at me, but he made the trip home without any obvious signs of stress.
When we got home, he really woke up and started pushing at the carrier door. When I opened it, he ran into the house and found a quiet spot to rest.
My heart soared.
He was happy to be home and I am grateful to have Mojo back.
– By Barbara Paulic, a volunteer at Katie’s Place animal shelter.