Senior cats are settling down

This is an old lady cat called Jasmine.   She came in to us some months ago because her owner had relocated abroad.    Jasmine has a pal called Ed and these two have been together for years.  It’s always a long term process to get new cats settled in to our feline community.   They’ve left their home and they don’t know where they are.  At first Ed and Jasmine shared a room – they could see the world from their outside run. This suited them fine.But cats in a pen, no matter how big it is, need more exercise in the long term.    They would lose muscle tone if they were always kept indoors and it would shorten their lives.   The permanent resident cats here possibly live so long (we have 18 and 19 years olds) because they have an ideal combination of sauntering round the farm and a comfy bed for the night!   Ed and Jasmine were very content in their cat condo and at first had no desire to roam.    Some cats settled quicker than others but these two took a while to want to come out of their pen even.    At first I let them wander round the corridors and into other pens and runs.    They could see different views down the fields – Ponies!   Chickens!   Geese!   I don’t think they’d met other animals before.

When I left the main door open so they could come outside they were still unsure for a while.    Then Jasmine decided to venture out to sit under a tree.    Ed eventually followed.    They said hello to some of the other cats and began to go round with one or two of their new pals.

Jasmine is a very elegant cat and likes to do her own thing.   She is becoming quite adventurous and now she knows where home base is and has a fix on everything, she wanders about quite a bit.   Not bad for an old lady of fifteen!    Jasmine is quite unusual in her mannerisms and is a bit of a poseur, she stands still with her head held high, inviting admiration.   A lovely elegant old lady.   She is still a beauty but must have been stunning in her youth.

Ed had wandered off when I was taking pictures so I’ll try and get him to pose tomorrow.   He is the chunkier of the two and a striped tabby, a smashing old fella.   Ed likes me to pick him up and give him a cuddle, while Jas always says ‘o.k. but put me down now please’.

If you’d like to adopt Ed and Jasmine please get in touch with us.   You don’t need to take them home with you – a small contribution will help towards their upkeep and we’ll be delighted to send you a picture of them and regular progress reports.   If you visit the sanctuary you will most likely meet them.    We’ll be putting more pets on our Adoption pages soon but why not donate now (minimum £10 please), send us your details and we’ll send your adoption certificate straight out.   [donate]