Wanderer returns
24 January 2010
I have been fostering cats for 3 years now. Some cats are forgettable whilst others are memorable. Some cats are so memorable I don’t think I will ever forget them. Pippy is one of these cats.
Pippy is a black and white long haired cat. Two and half years ago she escaped from Fostercare in Ickenham though a very small opening in an upstairs window. Although the fosterer searched for her everywhere there was no sign of her.
Two years later, Janet our coordinator answers her phone to get told her cat has been found. But the question was, which cat, she couldn't remember any cats going missing in 2009. The answer of course was Pippy. Pippy had been found in Burnham over 10 mile away from where she went missing. She had been surviving by eating the bird food and the scraps people had left out for the hedgehogs and foxes.
When she came to my pen unit she was a bag of bones covered in the densest fur I have ever seen. The fur was also very matted and it made her look very fat. She settled into pen life very well. She decided to sleep in a small box at the bottom of her cat tree instead of inside the heated sleeping quarters. She now guards this box and her food tray as if her life depended on it. This caused a few problems to begin with as I was unable to put any more food down! However she is getting better, she has learnt that guarding empty food bowls is a waste of exercise. When she is not on guard duty, Pippy loves to be stroked and comes to the front of her cage to say hello to all visitors.
This week, Pippy is off to see the vets for a check up and for vaccinations. We are hoping her 2 years in the wild and her odd diet have not damaged her health.
Update, Nov 2010. Pippy is still looking for someone to adopt her.