Cameo's Story:

Not long before lockdown we were contacted about a little white cat in need of help due to the fact that someone was moving away. When we got to the bottom of the issue, we were confronted with a very sad and unnecessary tale.

Cameo had repeatedly turned up at a house looking lost and hungry. Eventually the people in the house gave her some food but even though she was trusting, friendly and wanted to “adopt” them, they didn’t offer her the shelter of their home, contact a rescue centre or even have her scanned at a vets in case she was lost. Instead, they gave her some food but shut the door to her, leaving her to live outside in the garden in all weathers without any shelter in the summer or warmth in winter. This continued for six long years.

When we collected her we could immediately see that she was exhausted, wasn’t grooming herself properly as she was very dirty and she had an infection in both eyes. This had gone on for such a long time that the constant weeping of her eyes had caused damage to her fur and for it to fall out in places.

Once back at the centre we settled her into a cosy den with soft beds, blankets and toys – something she hadn’t experienced for many years. She allowed us to treat her eyes without any aggression and she slept a great deal. We have found that she doesn’t expect affection at all and she is a rather shut down little puss, but thankfully after some weeks with us she is beginning to come out of her shell.

Cameo’s situation was entirely avoidable. A rescue centre such as ourselves would have taken her in, and if she had become lost and had belonged to somebody who wanted her back, there would have been a chance to reunite them. Keeping her outside in all weathers without even a bed box for six years has taken its toll on her. She is not a wild animal, she is a domestic pet and domestic pets rely on humans for food and shelter. Because she had known a home before, the food she was given kept her where she was and she simply accepted her lot as a means of survival. Contrary to some opinions, cats are not automatically good at feeding themselves by killing small prey and the lifespan of a cat that is forced to live that way is very short.

It is also worth considering that she is only around seven years old, so she would have been very young when she became homeless. Looking at the positives, she was at least fed fairly regularly and we were informed when that was about to stop. It could have been much worse.

As you can see by the photographs of her, Cameo is improving and we hope that when lockdown is over that she will find a loving home where she can lay on sofas, snooze on chairs, sit on laps and ultimately be kept safe and warm to the end of her days..