Rescue Story: Two Big Kitties Left Behind
Meet Shadow and Cleo. Their human developed Alzheimer’s and had to go to a care home a few months ago. The family couldn’t find any one to take Cleo, 6, and Shadow, 13, so they maintained them in the house. The house is full of stuff and unclean, not unusual with dementia, and now needed to be cleaned out.
Jan, the same woman who took in Kitty Girl before she went to her foster, offered to take them; the woman who developed Alzheimer’s is an aunt of a cousin of a nephew, some family relation that’s difficult to follow. Jan has a basement room with a view outdoors that is ideal for them to chill and decompress after their experience in their home.
People knew their human loved kitties
Their human was a school librarian and at school and in her neighborhood she was apparently known as one who loved cats. She didn’t actually get to “adopt” Shadow and Cleo, people actually gave them to her! A neighbor’s cat had kittens (how often do we hear that one…) and came over to talk to the woman while she was in her car in her driveway, and dropped little Shadow kitten into the car window! And a young girl at school brought in little kitten Cleo for her librarian. Just grateful this woman did love cats and took wonderful care of them until her dementia started. She began feeding them constantly, better than what often happens, forgetting to feed them. She also forgot they were indoor-only and let them out into the yard. Thankfully neither of them took off but stayed in the yard, even when the woman forgot to bring them in. The family helped her as best they could.
Trapping them in the house
Their caretakers in the house could pet them a little but the cats had to be trapped in the house. A wonderful relative from a town about an hour away came daily and the cats were quite friendly with her. She was experienced in trapping and the cats only gave her a little bit of trouble.
Cleo came first and was friendly after a few hours in Jan’s basement room. Shadow took a few extra days and was frightened but friendly enough that both cats rubbed on their foster and enjoyed being petted, though easily overstimulated, especially Shadow.
Imagine two friendly kitties in the house alone most of the time for all those months and finally they get some love in a safe place!
Two BIG kitties!
They are BIG kitties. Not only are they overweight because their person fed them constantly–but better than what dementia patients often do, forget to feed–they are also large-framed cats. I forgot to pull out my tape measure but both cats have very long bodies and legs.
Even Cleo has a big head, filling most of my hand with the fingers extended. Her face has a kind of a pantherish shape, and she has a calm and regal demeanor while also being pleasant and friendly.
Shadow is shy
It’s a little freaky for me that Shadow looks like Basil, but I don’t get any sense of Basil from him. Shadow is his own self.
Shadow hid under a bench, then came out to Jan and me. Though he was uncertain of things he enjoyed going from her to me and being petted. He’s big and friendly and just needs more time to adjust. He was afraid of my camera! It made scary little noises he couldn’t identify so I got the photo from across the room. Cell photos weren’t clear because he kept moving.
Thanks again for people who care enough to keep these cats safe and foster them.
Adjusting well and looking for a home
They spent most of May in their basement room with Jan visiting and her Persian mix Noah too, all of them just being very Zen down there, as Jan described. Shadow escaped the room a few times, but Jan got him back in. Now, a month later, they’ve been out and about the house with few conflicts. Cleo has a habit of swatting everyone but it never amounts to anything. Shadow is still a little shy, but not hiding.
Help a foster! Interested in adopting?
If you are interested in meeting or adopting, please let me know! Email bernadettekazmarski @ comcast dot net.
Donations for foster care and feeding are always welcome. Not everyone who is willing to foster can afford to feed and have veterinary care for another cat, and I don’t like to ask someone to foster if I can’t help them with the costs. You can donate through The Creative Cat on this page: https://thecreativecat.net/welcome-to-the-creative-cat/about/support-the-creative-cat/ And thank you!
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork
Great Rescues Day Book:
Portraits, Rescue Stories, Holidays and Events, Essential Feline Information, All in One Book
Each month features one of my commissioned portraits of a feline or felines and their rescue story along with a kitty quote on the left page, and on the right page the month name with enough lines for all possible dates, with standard holidays and animal-themed observances and events. Great Rescues also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my drawings including information on finding strays or orphaned kittens, adopting for the first time or caring for a geriatric cat, a list of household toxins and toxic plants, or helping stray and feral cats and beginning with TNR.
Each book includes also 10 sheets of my “22 Cats” decorative notepaper with a collage of all the portraits in black and white so you can make your own notes or write special notes to friends.
The portraits in this book, collected as a series, won both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest, as well as the 22 Cats Notepaper mentioned below.
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.
© 2009-2025 | 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!
PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE| EMAIL | PATREON
Discover more from The Creative Cat
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
shadow and cleo; eye am sorree two heer bout yur purrson 🙁 tho am happee yur doin grate in yur new home….itz hard… and heerz hopin with bezt fizhez on dizhez filled with wizhez that yur foster time iz happee happee hapee ♥♥♥
I’m so glad their transition has been fairly easy! Especially because finding homes for them won’t be.
Thanks for stopping by now that I’m back online! I’ve missed you and your comments. Sometimes it takes me an extra day or two because I’m still finding issues on all the sites, little things like missing images or plugins that don’t get along and I jump on that right away just to get it taken care of. Aside from that, no major problems.