Weirdly enough, I found my rescue cat on Facebook. A friend posted a picture of Bernie, who was about to become homeless after the death of his person. He had already been on his own for about two months, with a couple of kind people coming around to leave food and water for him in the garage of his person's home, but now the house was on the market and he had to find a new home or just become a homeless cat or get taken to a shelter. His caretakers didn't think this was a good option for him as he was an older guy at about 8 years old and not at all sociable. I had lost my beloved 15 year old cat to lymphoma last summer and was ready to share my home with a new cat, and I thought a mature cat would be preferable to a kitten, since I'm out most of the day and have plenty of stuff for a kitten to destroy. Cats have always found me, rather than the reverse, and it seemed like fate placed his picture where I could see it.
Little did I realize how feral Bernie was. I thought he was just ultra shy or traumatized, but after two months of living in my bedroom closet and not responding to laser toys, fishing pole toys, wand toys, roast chicken, lox and other tasty treats, I'm beginning to think that maybe he is truly a miniature wild cat who does not want to associate with humans. At night he comes out of hiding and goes wilding around the house, which he seems to enjoy.
Even though I have lived with cats for most of my life, I think Bernie is truly my challenge cat of a lifetime.
Port Townsend, WA
