Gravy

Mixed Breed · Unknown · Adult · 4 years

I am an ex-feral cat who is learning to trust humans and looking for a special home! More About Us. Breed - Domestic Shorthair. Sex - Male. Age - 4 years. Colour - Black/ white. Neutered - Yes. Vaccinated - Yes. Microchipped - YesFIV/FeLV blood tested- Yes (Negative)Live with children - Adult only. Older teenagers 16+ okayLive with other cats - Yes. Slow and careful introductions will be needed.Live with dogs -Potentially a calm, cat-friendly dogTemperament - Ex-feral. Has made really good progress over the last few months and now accepts fuss on his terms. He really enjoys the company of humans.Very chatty - as you can see from his pictures!Indoor-only or outdoor access? Due to his past, Gravy will need to be kept strictly indoors for at least 6 months but maybe longer, this will depend on how well he settles in and gets to know his new humans. In his previous home, he lived outside, which we want to avoid him reverting to, so ensuring that he is happy and settled before going outdoors should help. Once settled, he can have access to outdoors, or can remain as an indoor only cat if he is happy. We are however looking for a home where outdoor access is possible if this is what Gravy wants (when he is ready). Hi, my name is Gravy. Yes, I know. Our carer had a Christmas dinner theme for names and I think I drew the short straw! My carer tends to call me G, which I do respond to. Although if I’m honest, I think I would respond to anything if I think I will get food!I came to the sanctuary with my brothers Mash, Sprout and Parsnip. Our family had sadly been evicted from their home and needed to find a new home ASAP, unfortunately this was quite difficult with 4 cats, so they needed to find somewhere safe for us to go. Two of the carers came to our house to catch me as our owners couldn’t get me into a carrier, I gave them a bit of a run around but they managed to safely catch me in the end. I didn’t make it easy for them of course.In our previous home, my brothers all lived happily inside, but for some reason I had always preferred to be outside. I would go indoors to eat but once finished, I would go straight back outside. Our family had taken us on as young stray kittens (all at different times), but I never seemed to adjust to an indoor homely lifestyle like my brothers. I do love my food and am very food motivated, so my carers have used this to their advantage when trying to make friends with me. When I first arrived, I was very scared and would hiss, growl and swipe at them as they tried to clean my pen, but after a few weeks I began to calm down slightly and would just hide while they cleaned my pen and wait for them to give me my food. I have been making lots of progress over the last few months. My main carer began slowly making friends with me using positive reinforcement. She didn’t want to force me to be touched as I was obviously uncomfortable around humans, so she wanted to help me feel safe around them first. It only took a few weeks before I was screaming at the humans for food whenever I saw them, so they knew that food would be the way to my heart! Although I still did not want to be touched, I was then quite happy to be around my trusted humans. It took me a long while before I would come out of my pen as I was scared, but now there’s no stopping me! I will run out of my pen just to be involved in whatever the humans are doing! Once I began coming out to explore, my confidence grew very quickly. After a few months, I began to show that I felt really comfortable being around my carers. I would happily take treats of them and eat right next to them, which was major progress! I also started to rub up their legs, which I soon realised made them happy so I now do this all the time! I love to chat away to them, in case they forget I am there (apparently this is impossible, because I am always screaming! Slight exaggeration, but yes I admit that sometimes I do lose my voice, not sure why?) Slowly my carers began to stroke me gently while I was occupied with eating, starting with small tickles only on my head. I will now accept fuss even when I am not eating, although it is all on my own terms. The humans know my signals and know whether I have had enough fuss or when I just don’t want to be touched at all. I will often still give them a slap if I feel like it though.

Listed 4 days ago