Shorty's Story

While I was a foster carer for a rescue organisation, I was asked by an elderly lady if I could help her with her cats. I went to her house for a cup of tea and to see what help she needed. Three hours later and some very very fun stories later I knew this woman and her kittens were the kind of people I wanted to help. She was a kindred spirit. A couple of years earlier she started feeding a couple of stray cats and now she had a colony of approximately 30 cats in her back yard. Things were out of control, and she wanted someone to help get on top of things.

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The rescue group I was volunteering for were unsure about how to help young cats or adult cats who had not been socialised early. So, I trapped a few gorgeous scruffy kittens and put them in the little unused cottage at the bottom of our garden. I spent many hours talking with the cats, singing, reading and knitting to get them used to humans and fed them bucket loads of BBQ chicken! After a month or so most of them came around and were rehomed through the organisation I volunteered for. Yay, such a great outcome for those kittens.

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BUT! There were a couple of reluctant kittens who, despite appearing to want to be friends, simply couldn’t overcome their gut instincts to run and hide. Normally with shelters and rescue groups, these young cats would be put to sleep, as there simply isn’t any other option for unfriendly cats in Australia. I couldn’t bear the idea of perfectly healthy animals being euthanized simply because they didn’t conform to our societies ideas of what a ‘pet’ needs to be.

 

So began Wilde Cat Cottage. I had a large enclosure and shelter shed built at the back of the cottage and the cats were given a safe place to be. Without fear, without expectations and all the food and shelter that they needed to live comfortable lives.