Furever home for Maria the cat
Maria is approximately 4 years old. She is a spayed tortoiseshell. I am looking for a great home for her where she can be a single cat so her personality can come back out and she can be the playful, loving, curious kitty I know that she is. Here is some of her story: Maria was adopted in 2022 by a lovely woman looking for a companion for her elderly cat. The elderly cat wanted nothing to do with Maria and began bullying Maria until one day in 2023 Maria got out and ran away. Two weeks after Maria ran away I found her while searching for my lost cat. When I brought Maria home, she initially seemed to get along with my male cat who was missing his sister. When I got in touch with Maria’s owner, she suggested I keep Maria since she believed Maria ran away due to being bullied by her cat. Everything went well for a week and then my missing female was found and came home. Right off the bat the dynamic between Maria and my male changed and Maria and my female didn’t get along (I now know that my female is very territorial). Both of my original cats started ganging up on Maria and despite trying every tool I could find from experts- nothing I did seemed to work to get my three cats to even co-exist. Fortunately my home has a lot of space so Maria was able to find solace in her own space in one room and on the balcony.
I continued to try to integrate my cats and fortunately had an amazing pet sitter who helped with this process. When I had to leave town for a three month trip, my pet sitter continued to try to work with the cats but noticed Maria continued to be more on edge and always hiding. When I had to extend my trip for another three months, this time with the option of bringing my cats- I made the hard decision to see how Maria would be if I left her with the pet sitter for the three months and took my other two cats with me in hopes that Maria would settle and feel more at home in her home as a single cat.
It only took a week for my pet sitter to report that Maria was a totally different cat. When Maria realized she had the entire house to her self- with no cat hiding around a corner to attack her- her personality came out. She became an amazing and cool cat who gradually allowed my pet sitter to pick her up, hold her, and would sleep at my pet sitters feet every night. She loved to play and watch the birds from the window or on the balcony and often entertained herself with any toy she found laying around the house. She meowed hello to my pet sitter and whenever we would talk on the phone and my pet sitter would say Maria’s name she would meow back. I
We hoped that by reintroducing the cats after my trip, that they would have a new opportunity to get along, but sadly it didn’t go that way. My two cats are dominant in the house and despite all our efforts Maria once again became their main target. It broke my heart to know how alive and happy she was while we were gone and then to see her become timid and hide her personality again.
While this isn’t the ideal situation for Maria- at least I knew she could have her own space in my house since I had a lot of room. Life for me has changed again and I am now moving from my home in Sedona to a small one bedroom apartment in Colorado and I know having all three cats in this small space is completely unfair for Maria. It would be selfish of me to bring her into that situation just because I love her when I know that she really needs to go to a home where there aren’t any other animals who make her nervous since I believe her living in a single cat home will really allow her amazing and playful personality to come out.
I should also note that Maria is a very respectful cat- she doesn’t claw any of the furniture, always uses her litterbox, and doesn’t jump on any counters. She stays off most furniture other than the foot of the bed with my pet sitter and mainly spends time in her cat tree or wherever her fluffy rug/cat bed is (which I usually have by a big window).
When she finds her right home, I am happy to send all of Maria’s favorite things to help ease the transition for her as my prayer for Maria is that this next home for her is her furever home!View Detail