Thank you Sherry! Taffy was just 2 when she came to us and had started out as the much fussed over and loved only cat. Then her owner decided she wanted another cat to be a companion and got a young Siamese male. It turned out that the new kitty was very pushy and dominant and quickly discovered that he could easily intimidate the more submissive and gentle Taffy. And so it began. I fault the owner for not dealing with the situation sooner. Taffy was harassed and beaten up by this other cat for a year before the owner concluded that she needed to find a new home for Taffy (What???? Taffy was first) and said she wanted to keep the more rough and tumble cat for her kids.
It was a boiling hot day in July when we went to get her and she had never been in a cat carrier and was stressed beyond belief. We were taking her straight to our vet to make sure she was okay — because the previous owner had never bothered with shots or anything. After that, we got her home and put her in a room so she could get a bit used to the house and us and then our big silly dog showed up. Taffy had never seen a dog before and literally tried to climb the wall to escape. She shot out of the room and down to the basement and that was the last we saw of her for a month.
We knew she was eating and using the kitter litter box, but she had found a place to hide that we were unable to penetrate. One day we discovered evidence of problematic stools in the kitty litter and took them to the vet, who said she had gotten Giardia. How this happened we have no idea, but we had to get her out of the basement and into the vet quick.
After practically dismantling the basement we got her. She gave Bruce a nasty bite but we managed to put her in the carrier and in to the vet for shots.
In order to keep an eye on her, the vet recommended we keep her in one of our offices. We put her in Bruces’ — and so, gradually she bonded with Bruce.
Fast forward to now, and she is a very different kitty. She treats me as a two-legged, tail-less cat.
