In a house filled with four furries, Julie knew she had room in her heart (and home) for one more!
A full-time teacher with a love for travel, 70-year-old Julie was living in Queensland with her three dogs (Mareeba, Bojangle and Shelley) and her 16-year-old cat (Benji) when she started to think about adding another furry friend to her family.
An experienced adopter, Julie understands all the benefits that come from opening your home to a rescue pet, having seen how adoption has transformed her pets' lives, as well as her own.
“I have a 16-year-old male ginger cat named Benji, and he actually adopted me!” Julie said. “Benji was what you’d call a ‘feral’ cat when he adopted me. But he's the most easy-going and well-mannered cat - a real placid gentleman.”
Now that Benji was reaching old age, Julie wanted to open her home to another rescue cat. She was looking for a mini version of her handsome prince - a young, ginger male that was easy going and placid.
Coming across the PetRescue Senior Citizens and Shy Cats Helpline after visiting PetRescue.com.au, Julie thought this was a great place to start her adoption journey. She called and got through to PetResue's Shy Cat Adoption Co-ordinator, Caren, who was thrilled to help put Julie in contact with some rescue groups that could match her with the perfect cat.
The rescue organisation, Pawprints Foundation, was more than happy to invite Julie along to meet some of their cats, and Julie jumped at the opportunity to see if her newest family member was in their care.
Julie drove 1.5 hours to meet up with Pawprints Foundation where she met several rescue cats in their care. When she first came across Thomas, Julie reached out to touch him and he just purred away. “This is it!” Julie thought - she knew she’d found her match.
“When I rescue a pet, I always feel that they find me. I adopt the animal that chooses me.”
When arriving home with Thomas, Julie knew that she needed to make him feel as comfortable as possible to help him settle in. She transferred Thomas to a large dog crate, along with his bed, food and litter tray, and placed him in an area where he could safely view the other pets in the house and slowly be introduced to them all. This proved to be a great move by Julie, as Thomas settled in well with her other pets right from the beginning!
“Thomas likes to ‘play fight’ with the poodle, Shelley, and he doesn’t even mind when my border collie, Mareeba, jumps up to share the bed as well!” Julie remarked.
Now that Thomas has been living with Julie and her furry family for a few months, thing couldn’t be going better!
“I love that Thomas sleeps on my bed and purrs continuously,” Julie said. “He is just so easy going and placid, and gets along well with all the other pets.”
Daily life for Julie continues to be filled with love for and from her pets, and she just loves the feeling of joy when Thomas comes to sit on her lap and purrs away. “It’s like he is happy to see me!”