“Dear Street Katz”

I just wanted to update you on Autumn, a cat you recently rehomed.  I am sure you will remember her as she was with you for a year before I took her.

It was a slow start as she was very frightened of new people and must have been overwhelmed with the move and a new large home. As soon as she got out of her carrier, she took refuge behind the sofa, which is very secluded and a great place to hide! She stayed here for 2 days and did not make a sound or move. However I could tell she was coming out at night when I wasn’t around as she had used her litter tray and the food was gone by the time I went to check on her in the morning.  On the 2nd night she started to meow from behind the sofa and kept popping her head out to see what was going on, eventually she had the courage to jump up on the sofa and watch the TV with me, OK it was only for 5 minutes but it was progress.

After about 5 days I introduced my other cat (Guinness) to the room, who is a lot bigger than her and a 2 year old tom. She was very confident around him and approached him, then followed him round the room, I think Guinness was less impressed at this time and kept running away.  A few days later I gave her the free running of the house and she ran like mad for the first few days and it seemed she had then settled in.

 A few weeks later I slowly let her go outside in the evening when I was around, and since then she has been going out for 2-3 hours a day. She stays very close to the house still and usually always in view but she loves running around in the garden and I have already received a few presents in the form of mice which she looks happy to have caught. Her favourite thing to do is watch other animals on the TV, she is always glued to it. She recognises other cats on the TV, especially the Felix advert cat.

I have noticed Guinness has stayed in more now he has a companion and apart from the odd fight over food they get on very well. She is a very vocal cat and likes her food even though she is still relatively small. She always runs to the front door to greet Guinness as soon as he comes in and is also the first to greet anyone that comes down in the morning.  

I won’t pretend to understand cats but Autumn seems very happy and has come a long way from the cat we took 2 months ago who would run away when I tried to stroke her, she now lets me stroke her and pick her up most of the time, and lays on her back waiting for her stomach to be rubbed.

I am glad we were able to give her a home after so long before another winter, and thank you all for your help.