Cats for Adoption: Lizzie
Lovely Lizzie is named after both Liz Taylor and Elizabeth Bennett (from Pride and Prejudice)—after Liz Taylor because of the markings…and after Elizabeth Bennett because she’s stubborn as can be, according to her foster! She is looking for a very special home which will understand a playful cat who enjoys the company of other felines, but is a little hesitant about humans.
Lizzie came into an HCMT clinic last October along with her brother Dorian to be spayed/neutered and returned to their neighborhood. No one wants to put kittens back outside if they can find a foster, but a foster couldn’t be found. Typically all cats headed back to their neighborhood are ear-tipped on the left ear, the universal sign of a community cat, and even those who might find a foster and be socialized to live indoors are ear-tipped just in case they don’t socialize (as Bert and Ernie were) and the best thing ends up being to take them back to their colony. Still, in surgery they actually had the clamp on Lizzie’s ear to tip it, but Dr. Morrow just couldn’t do it. She wanted them to have a chance as indoor cats.
“I was at the clinic…and there were these two kittens in a cage,” said Ashley, their eventual foster, “a poofy grey one (that’s Dorian) and a little brown tabby (who we named Lizzie).”
She was supposed to take home another cat to foster, but said she didn’t have a good feeling about him. “Michelle walked by their cage and said they would have to go with plan B because they weren’t friendly. I asked what Plan B was…and she didn’t have an answer,” Ashley said. Plan B was that they would eventually go back outside.
“I told her I’d take them…if she could find someone else to take the cat I was supposed to take,” she said. The cat she was to foster was coming from a bad situation and was FeLV/FIV+ along with too many health issues to overcome, and he ended up being euthanized.
She kept the two kittens in a dog crate for a month to work on socializing them, and found Lizzie was obviously the dominant of the two. “She wouldn’t even let us touch Dorian…she was trying to protect him, I guess,” Ashley said. “I decided one day she wasn’t getting enough exposure, so I brought them to the upstairs bathroom so my cats could play under the door with her.”
Dorian, friendly from the beginning, found a home really quickly…. “but Lizzie just wasn’t having anything to do with humans. She was SUPER food motivated, but didn’t want any contact with my husband or me. She would hide behind the toilet while Dorian played with us,” Ashley remembered.
“My husband actually gave up on her. Figured we’d have to put her outside,” she said. Obviously, that didn’t happen. “We’ve only fostered six, plus we rescued a feral from our backyard and tamed him. But she was the ONLY one we ever had problems with.”
Ashley described the measures they’ve taken with Lizzie, and seen lots of improvement. “I wouldn’t let her eat without having my hand on her. I put my hand over the food on the spoon so she HAD to touch my hand to eat,” she said. “She tried REALLY hard not to touch my hand…but after a few days I could actually pet her, and she would purr for about two seconds, then remember she hated me and swipe.”
But there was a solution to all this that could be key to the home where Lizzie is eventually adopted. Company was to visit the house for Christmas and Ashley needed the bathroom where Lizzie was staying.
“She was released into the household and FELL IN LOVE with my black cat,” Ashley said. “He’s my ‘foster friend’, he introduces all of our fosters to the household, shows them around,” she said of her cat Puck. “They have hit it off in a great way! They snuggle all the time…and to be honest, she’s bonded more with him than with the humans.
“So…she’s going to need a special home…someone who is willing to give her a little time to adjust,” Ashley continued. “She would probably prefer a home without dogs…I have two Golden Retrievers…but she isn’t their biggest fan. She definitely needs a cat buddy…she’s got a TON of spunk, so a younger cat would be preferable.”
Lizzie is located in the Pittsburgh area and is available for adoption through Pittsburgh C.A.T. Please stop by and leave a message that you are interested in adopting Lizzie!
. . . . . . .
Photos courtesy Ashley Halloran.
. . . . . . .
Adoption fees waived for adopting cats older than six months!
These kittens aren’t adoptable yet, but will be when they are old enough—some of them are already spoken for! But you know what? We still have some purrfectly wonderful adult cats who are still looking for homes. If you adopt an adult cat you not only give that cat an excellent forever home—yours—but then that foster home can take another adult or a litter of kittens. So consider adopting an adult cat, all adoption fees waived, through Pittsburgh Cat!
Read about other cats who are looking for homes.
Thanks to Wendi Stafford Wiegand, Tarra Provident, Margo Cicci Wisniewski, Stephanie Mosco and Kelly Lassinger for all the wonderful photos! But most of all thanks for all the hard work!
Amazon Wish Lists
Many rescuers pay out of pocket for veterinary care and food but the costs of raising even the average litter of four healthy kittens is more than many people have, and many rescues have greater needs. Pittsburgh CAT has a number of wish lists that include foods for feeding neo-natal kittens like KMR, and other lists that include the best kitten foods, adult cat foods, food and materials for feral cats, and preferred toys and litter.
Pittsburgh CAT Wish List: http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2IUQ0FQOL2I51
2015 Foster Cat/Kitten Wish List: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1A1HUNQ7J3DL/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?
Winter Kitten Wish List! http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3CZ6IYCKS2A7N/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?
Fall Wishlist for Fosters/Ferals! http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2TD3TQBOEMT1E/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?
Food For Foster Kittens: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/OJQIYGC91289/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?
Our Groups Foster Kittens! http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1D226142CCGZX/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_v?
Can’t adopt? Foster! Can’t foster? Donate or volunteer.
There are so many ways you can help cats who need homes and care. You may not have room to adopt another cat, but can foster a cat or kitten for a few weeks. If not that, you can volunteer at a shelter or with a rescue, or donate. You do this because you love your cat, and by doing so you help all cats. No matter which of these actions you take, you help to save a life, and make life better for all cats.
- Adopt one of the cats I’ve posted here, or from any shelter or rescue near you, or from Petfinder, to open up a space for another cat to be rescued and fostered.
- Offer to foster cats or kittens for a shelter or rescue near you.
- Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
- Find a group of volunteers who work with homeless cats and help them with their efforts.
- Donate to a shelter or rescue near you.
If you can foster kittens or adults cats to help prepare them for a forever home, please run to your nearest shelter and find a cat who needs you! Anyone can help with this effort at any level, even if all you do is donate to a shelter or rescue so they can help to pay for the food or medications needed for their foster, or the spay/neuter/veterinary care during a clinic.
Need to know more? Read Fostering for Your Shelter and Fostering Saves Lives
Browse some rescued cats and kittens—browse here or visit PittsburghCAT!
All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop 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.
Do you appreciate the stories and images we offer you each day?
lizzie…de best oh mackerull trout N flounder two ewe ya findz a dawg free cuddle buddy for evers home
N ya due sew by tax day …which iz like ree lee soon….two weekx act shoo a lee ♥♥♥