Happy Tails: Arya and Marianne

In this month’s edition of Happy Tails we meet Arya who was rescued from a large colony when she was two years old. She was pregnant, extremely shy, semi-feral and very skinny.

Here adopter Marianne tells us Arya’s story.

Adoption story 

Arya, who is 10 years old, was adopted in 2014.  I learned that she was rescued from a large colony, was pregnant and around 2 years old.  She was extremely shy, semi-feral, very skinny and had worms.

I initially was going to adopt a kitten after my 18 year old cat Sandy had to be euthanized due to a cancerous tumour. I saw Arya, who was named Nornie by her fosters Doug and Sharon in a YouTube video.  

She was so shy hiding under a couch with a blanket over top. She would reach her paw out to get treats. With the amazing help and patience of her foster mom and dad she gradually learned to trust again and to have fun playing with her kittens and toys. Initially I only saw her paw and a teeny bit of her face which showed part of  her beautiful orange stripe on her head.

I immediately felt sad for her being so scared and was drawn to her. I was worried that she might have trouble getting adopted due to her shyness so I decided to meet her and see if we would be a good fit. I reached out to her fosters to arrange a meeting and it was love at first sight! She came out from under the couch with a bit of coaxing with treats and just sat and stared at me with her very expressive eyes! She seemed to accept and like me so I decided to adopt her that day. I visited her several times before I brought her home because she was still nursing her 5 kittens. Each visit with her we made progress getting to know each other.

When she first came home with me, I remember her being so scared! She was too shy and nervous to come into the living room and spent her first 6 months or so in her safe spot under a table and in a box in the hallway. I played with her in the hallway and let her have her space. Initially she was scared of mostly everything, especially music or the TV.  Slowly but surely she got a little braver each day and she loves to watch nature shows or anything with kittens 😊

Seeing her come out of her shell and become confident and relaxed and enjoying her life has been an amazing experience!!! I’ve had cats my whole life, but had no experience with a shy semi-feral cat so it was a big learning experience for me on how to work with her to make her comfortable.

She’s become so loving and affectionate but still has her nervous tendencies occasionally. I’m so happy I adopted her!

What Arya loves most

She loves treats!  She will eat any treats. I stick with the healthy freeze dried ones for her. She’s adorable all the time but her sweetest thing is to come onto the arm of the couch and curl up on my shoulder 😊 She purrs like crazy and eventually starts washing her face. It’s pretty cute!

Why you chose to adopt, not shop

A friend told me about VOKRA and I wanted to help a kitten or cat that needed a fresh start in life. I’d like to encourage people to adopt the shy ones! They take a lot of patience but it is so worth the wait. It took a few years for her to sit on my lap and was such an amazing experience knowing how far she had come to feel safe and secure.

Want to share your Happy Tail? Email kotm@vokra.ca for information about how to share your kitty’s story.