Cat for Adoption: My Spare Tortie, Sienna, a Year Later!
It’s hard to believe Sienna has been here for a year! She came to my home in a trap on December 14, 2017, but it turned out she was not the feral kitty we thought she was—thin, frightened, running away at the slightest provocation. We’d intended to TNR her, but I would hold her during the brutally cold weather last December. She was friendly enough in the trap, talking and rubbing on the bars, that I let her out into the bathroom and within minutes she was on my lap, air-kneading.
She wasn’t spayed, and she was wearing a pink collar when we trapped her. I spent most of the rest of December sharing her everywhere convinced she could be lost and several people came to see her, but she wasn’t their tortie. Since she was friendly, healthy, and very affectionate, her next move was to be surrendered to Beaver County Humane Society for adoption after the first of the year. Because they would take care of her vetting I kept her in the bathroom for quarantine, and that seemed to suit her—she had no interest in leaving the room!
But in that time I also learned that she was even more than painfully shy, she was traumatized by encountering other people. How did this sweet girl manage to live outdoors, sneaking up to feeding stations to avoid humans and even other cats, for at least six months and probably more? And how would she do in a shelter? And then she developed a urinary issue and all ideas of a shelter were out the window. I had her spayed and given the works and integrated her into the household hoping that being spayed and being around other friendly cats would help her weather the adoption process.
That really didn’t happen. If I had more visitors she may have adapted better, and sometimes she can become very frightened by noises, like the day recently a friend and I had to cut into my kitchen ceiling to fix a leak in the bathroom. Mariposa hid upstairs and Bella in the basement, but they came out about an hour after the noise stopped. Four hours later I still hadn’t seen Sienna and went looking for her, shaking a treat bag. Sienna was settled so deep onto the ductwork atop the furnace that I couldn’t even see her and it took about two minutes for her to extricate herself, and several days for her to come up to the kitchen again for anything aside from meals. Poor Sienna!
And she is a little intimidated by the number of cats in the room sometimes. She loves other cats, you see her cuddle all the time, but I know it’s the nature of the housepanthers to move in a group and be very physical, never rough or aggressive, but I’m not sure how long I’d be okay with a bunch of friendly humans crowding around me. I know that is a constant stress on her. For her best life I really think she needs to live with fewer cats.
Basil is her protector, as he is that of all the frightened cats, from kittens to adults, who are managing their way through the house.
But she is soooo affectionate. From the very beginning, it’s as if she can’t get close enough to me, and I’m sure she would be that way with any human she loved and trusted. The other day I sat down at my computer downstairs and she raced in, leaped on my lap and actually stood up and put her arms around my neck, rubbed on my face and even crawled up onto my shoulder and then back down, and settled herself firmly in my lap, purring, kneading, and glancing up at me, blinking her eyes.
A friend who lives a state away would really love to adopt her, but we don’t think Sienna would handle the travel very well. She hasn’t been able to meet very many people, but I do have a friend in mind locally who would be a perfect home for her. I hope to see her over the holidays and perhaps we’ll do a little matchmaking; my friend knows what I’m up to. But for now Sienna is more than welcome to cuddle up on my lap or lie around looking beautiful.
I am fostering Sienna on my own, outside of any group, but I will still check veterinary references and housing references of anyone who is interested in adopting, and I will also charge an adoption fee. One can never be too careful when adopting out a cat. Let’s hope Sienna gets a Christmas gift and finds her forever home and forever person!
You can see more photos of Sienna and read more by browsing all the posts that include her. Below is the very first post I shared about her. The photos of her on the red rug are from the very first day she was here.
I’ve had a guest in my foster room since last Tuesday! She’s a very nice tortie girl, soft and round and affectionate who I’m calling Sienna. It’s apparent she was someone’s cat, but not sure who. Here’s what I posted the day after she came here.
FOUND: very friendly adult tortie, on 2nd Avenue in Carnegie. Neighbors have been feeding her since July, she was very thin but filled out nicely since then. No microchip. They were concerned about her in this snow and cold and trapped her the other night. They have been looking for an owner since she showed up but no one has responded. She was skittish outside but now that she’s inside she’s a VERY friendly and nice kitty, talkative, loves laps, loves pets. Someone must be missing her, please share.
Her post has been shared widely and two people have stopped to see if she is their tortie, but she is not. So she can settle here until after Christmas and then meet some of my friends at one of the shelters. Such a nice kitty would have no problem being adopted! The photos of her on the windowsill are from yesterday, all others are from the day after she came here.
Photos of her face were difficult because she likes to be close and doesn’t sit still unless she’s on your lap. When she is on your lap she regularly looks up and gives nose kisses.
Eventually she will roll over on her back and ask for belly rubs. She is also a great conversationalist.
She has the most amazing soft round paws. She actually has a very pleasant cobby plushy tortie build that I adore. Her coloring is very dark with just speckles and very few big spots but for the large spot on the top of her head. I named her Sienna for her warm dark coloring.
No, she has not met the household yet, and likely she will not. She is still in her two-week quarantine and introducing an adult to the household might be more stress than she or my household need for a short stay.
She’s been enjoying watching the squirrel in the tree outside the bathroom window.
Here are a few more photos of her. Wish her luck in her journey toward a forever home!
You might need a tortie in your life!
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork
“Tortie Girls” prints are portraits of my two tortie girls, Cookie and Kelly. They are hand printed, hand tinted linoleum block prints of my two tortoiseshell cats, one very round and one very slender, “The Goddess” and “The Roundest Eyes” matted and framed and ready to hang. Image is 8″ x 12″, with mat and frame outside dimensions 11″ x 14″ or 16″ x 20″. Read more and order.
Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.
Subscribe to my e-newsletter
Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.
© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
Sienna is a beauty! Anyone would fall in love with her.
Thank you, Lola! Everyone who has met her has kind of had to adore her from afar, but we are sure the right human will come along for her.
Sienna is a doll! I have my paws crossed that she finds her furrever home soon!
She is so sweet, Vicky, that big round face and fancy paws, and she’s so affectionate. She’s actually been getting bolder with a little more traffic in the house and I hope she stays that way.