Mysti

How little MYSTI joined our family...by Hilary Eastment.

Following our loss of beautiful manx cat 'Buddy', we were all missing him terribly, our home was empty without him, and as well as our own grieving we were worried about Shadow who had lost a special friend and she was showing signs of a serious doggy depression, her lethargic condition was worrying us greatly. Shadow and Buddy had been together for a good number of years so it was understandable that she should be grieving for her cat pal. We felt that it would probably help Shadow if we set about getting another Cat for her. We have always approached rescue shelters whenever we've been able to provide a home for an animal. To start the process I immediately contacted several of the animal rescue centres informing them that we had a good home to offer, I also explained about Shadow, and our wish that she has some part in selecting a suitable cat to hopefully share the rest of her life with. Mysti was about six months of age when we adopted her.

We discussed what our stipulations on age or health of any rescue animal we would home, my thoughts were that a sick elderly pet may not be suitable for the fear that Shadow could bond with a new friend that again may have to leave her, so we suggested that we'd be happy to consider cats around six years or less (as Shadow is nearly 10 years of age) and that we could accept one with health issues if they could be treated. Most of the centres in our area were very helpful, only a few couldn't accommodate our request for Shadow to have a say in selection, those that could were happy to advise us verbally of the kittens or cats they were looking after, approximate ages, temperaments, health issues etc., and where possible we could even see them on the internet or via emailed images.

All of the cats were all wonderful, and all deserve a good loving home and it makes you feel very sad that you can't take them all, but we knew that however much we liked the look of a cat the final decision was Shadow's, where cats are concerned she seems to know which cats like her and she's always been right.

I met a very helpful lady called Eileen who runs the Hirwaun rescue centre, this is a fostering home for cats and kittens awaiting homes, she works along with the Bristol and Wales Cat Rescue, you will find their website info in our resources section.

We formerly adopted little Mysti on March 8th 2009 - This picture was taken during her first month with us...more to come...

Visit Mysti's photo gallery........or click on any of the random gallery pics opposite.