Written by Cat Care Port Elizabeth – Cat Care Committee Member: Judith Campbell
Photography by Mariaan Browne
One of my portfolios on the Cat Care committee is Kitten Intake. A heart-breaking role at the best of times because we so often have to turn cases away due to being full to bursting with rescued kittens. But, when I can say yes and we have space and foster moms available, it’s the best job in the world!
When Julian (as we named him) came into care I was immediately drawn to him. He has so much warmth and such a loud, husky satisfying purr. He’s also the colour of cinnamon, not a regular ginger. He went to Shannon to be fostered, and when she went away, he came back to me for his “holidays”, because he’d gone blind due to snuffles and we felt that he needed constant supervision.
When he came to me he re-adjusted so quickly; he’s never been a sullen or concerned cat. He just gets on with living and playing and purring and bumping against people for attention!
We knew it would take time to find the exact right home for him and three possible adoptions fell through before Marée contacted me about Julian. He was having his “holiday” with me at the time, and as soon as I heard from her, I knew she was “the one”. I could tell that she and her husband had huge hearts for animals and they were committed to Julian before they’d even met him. She explained that she already had a special needs cat and that they were planning to build an indoor/outdoor catio. Perfect for a blind kitten.
She asked, “When I come to meet him, can I bring a cat carrier to take him home?” I was close to tears.
You meet lots of special people when you’re in animal rescue and Julian was so fortunate to firstly have Shannon as his foster mom who took such good care of him (spoilt him, actually!) and loved all his quirks, including his love of “talking” and his little rasps that he uses to let you know where he is, and then to be adopted by Maree and her husband who loved him before they knew him. It makes me very happy.
Shannon Mostert, Julian’s Foster Mum, shares...
It was early January and the New Year celebrations were over. Judith reached out to me about fostering kittens that were rescued from a field somewhere in the Malabar area. I agreed.
Upon first sight of Julian, I saw that he was in an extremely bad shape. He had a bad eye infection as well as a bad case of snuffles. I immediately called for an appointment at the vet. On my way there, I prepared myself for the worst possible outcome as his situation was dire.
The vet gave me about 4-5 different medications to treat him with daily. Slowly, he got better, but, tragically, he’d lost his sight due to the bad eye infection and being out on the streets for quite a while.
I’ve grown to love him so very much; my home will always be open to him as I see him as one of my own pets. He has a personality so inspiring and bursting with happiness, even though he cannot see.
I truly hope that he can feel the joy he brings to everyone who had and still has the pleasure of meeting him.
Marée Trüter, Geordi’s new guardian, shares...
When I saw on Facebook that Julian still had no home offers, my heart broke! My husband and I discussed it and decided there and then that we would provide the best home for him. I immediately called Judith and, as they say, the rest is history!
We renamed him Geordi (after the character in Star Trek), and were amazed at how quickly he settled in with our family.
He and another of our rescue cats, Pietertjie, are firm friends and are always together.
Geordi has adapted so well to life with us and we’re thrilled to be his new family.
