Happy Holidays!

It’s Christmas time again, and for my husband and I that also means the anniversary of when we adopted our youngest cat, Muggles (formerly Braveheart), from MEOW. For those of you who might remember him, I just wanted to send a quick update on how he’s doing.

In all seriousness, I can’t begin to tell you how far Muggs has come. He truly is living proof of how love (and a lot of patience!) can completely change an animal’s life (and ours as well!).

I could go on and on about how he responds to his name now, how he rarely gets startled, how he even allows strangers to pet him…but the thing that has been most striking to me is how – beyond the individual behaviors – it almost seems his entire personality has changed. Compared to even just 6 months ago, he is really like a completely different cat (in a good way!).

For example… the first few months we had him, he would allow me to pick him up and would almost go limp in my lap. Once in my lap, he seemed to really like having his tummy rubbed. He also drooled – a lot! We thought he was always going to be this shy, calm, cuddly lap cat.

However, now he hates being picked up. If he’s going to be held, it has to be on his own terms. He also absolutely hates (he’ll swat at us – politely! – if we do) having his tummy pet…and he NEVER drools any more.  My husband and I are sure now that his past behaviors/tolerances were simply things done out of anxiety and nervousness. We now see his true colors – he is an extremely spunky, playful, outgoing, loyal (he’s ALWAYS wherever I am) and affectionate (but not necessarily “cuddly”!) cat. And we absolutely love him. It’s nice to see that he’s become comfortable enough to be himself!

I tell everyone I know about Mugg’s transformation, in hopes that it will convince others to take a chance on an animal it seems no one else will. While I’m sure we would’ve loved and been happy with any other kitten we chose, there is something truly amazing about taking in the “imperfect” one and, in our case, watching him grow into the “perfect” loving, happy, and healthy cat we always knew he was.

PS. Our other two boys from MEOW are doing well also! Their days consist of a lot of eating and sleeping and soliciting attention from their owners.

Best Regards,

Michele Gowin