Charles and Leo get Adopted, and Update on Sparkle

Some lovely adoption news: I just heard that Leo and Charles were adopted together, that is so sweet to hear! Have to wish these two sweet friends much happiness in their new home.

When I started volunteering at Social Tees shelter over a year ago, both these guys were amongst the so-called "feral cats" who are loose in the shelter but were afraid of people. They would hide out in the highest places in the shelter and would not let you touch them at all. Through offering treats, TTouch and gentle approaches to socialization by me and some of the other volunteers, these two and subsequently some of the other "ferals" have become friendly and adoptable.

A few other cats who had been at the shelter a while were also adopted in the past couple of days.

And another update: I ran into the woman who adopted Sparkle, who had arrived at Social Tees as a terrified feral kitten and after months of careful, gradual work she became much more social, though still shy, and was adopted. The woman said Sparkle was doing great! that she was getting along with her other cats very well and was becoming very sweet and friendly with her.

Charles and Leo: Continued Story of True Friendship

To me, some of the most meaningful moments that happen in the shelter are the special, pure moments of connection between animals, simple gestures which can be so meaningful and that can touch your heart and teach you so much.

Charles and Leo (Charles, left and Leo, right in the above pic) are inseparable buddies. Charles is a strong, young cat and Leo is a senior kitty who is very frail, yet with such a strong, sweet spirit. They are almost always right next to each other, and show such caring to each other.

Every day these boys wait at my feet for me to give them some wet food, which I do, and this is especially for Leo's benefit We leave out dry food for the cats who are loose in the shelter but Leo really can use the extra nutrition of the wet food.

Charles seems to know this, and, though he really enjoys wet food, he sits off to the side for quite a while, letting Leo eat for a long time before he will go to the food bowl and take any for himself. This is such a sweet, thoughtful gesture which really speaks volumes and touches my heart every time.

We have so much to learn from these creatures, if we would only slow ourselves down and pay attention.

Leo

Leo is a very shy, gentle, sensitive kitty, he has been loose in the shelter as a "feral cat" for a number of years, though he and his best friend Charles have become much more friendly lately, due to socialization and me giving them wet food (!).

Here I am doing TTouch on sweet Leo. He is an older gentleman cat and quite fragile, so I use gentle touches on him and usually just touch him with the back of my hand or fingers. As you can see, he is not so fond of being touched under his chin, but then when I go back to touching him on the top of his head and body, he is much more at ease. I love this sweet lion-kitty very much, he is a dear old soul and recently his face has often appeared in my head when I wake up.

Charles and Leo

Some of the most beautiful moments at a shelter can come in observing how sweet these animals can be to one another, and what loving friendships these animals form. The two cats above are named Charles (left) and Leo (right). Charles is a strong young boy and Leo is an older gentlemen, and these two are the best of friends. They go everywhere in the shelter together, and It is especially moving because Leo is older and extremely delicate, and Charles is very protective of him. He lets Leo eat first if I put down food, and he generally watches over him. Even in the photo above you can see Charles's expression is "don't even think of messing with my buddy," as Leo sits there with his gentle, lion-like smile.

If I do TTouch on one of them, then the other begins to rub his head against the cat I'm TTouching as well. It is so beautiful seeing them together, it really brings a tear to your eyes. Lately I have woken up with the faces of these two cats in my head.

Both of these cats were designated as "feral cats" in the shelter, meaning that they supposedly weren't friendly, but once I began to feed them and Ttouch them and a couple of the other voluteers began to pet them and sometimes feed them, they have become extremely friendly, and a few of their other "feral" friends are starting to come around as well. Many of them sit up on top of all the cages, watching everything, and I can feel that they receive some of the TTouch and Reiki energy when I am working on the animals in the cages, it is interesting to see!

Here's a big hug to these two, we humans have a lot to learn from these creatures about loyalty and true friendship.