There's Always Hope 

Jilly was born in August of 2003 and rescued by someone who fed the litter of five kittens, but never socialized them. The litter was brought into the Safe Haven Humane Society foster program in November of 2003, and work began on socializing them with much success, except for Jilly.

Just opening Jilly’s cage door would send her flying to the rear, trying desperately to climb the back of the cage. Gradually, over the years, she came to trust her foster mom, but would revert back to the paralyzed, fearful kitty when taken to adoption events. Safe Haven’s foster mom didn't want to continue to traumatize her, so she stopped taking her to adoption events, and Jilly literally grew up in foster care.

Chandler had come to Safe Haven with three litter mates, Joey, Monica and Rachel, who were all rescued from a hoarder situation involving 47 cats.

Chandler’s three litter mates were adopted quickly enough, but Chandler was in foster care for a year and a half, simply because he mistrusted strangers and did not do well at adoption events.

Chandler was wonderful in his foster home, but became terrified the minute he left. Most people who come to adoption events prefer a cat who’s affectionate and cuddly, not one who's shrinking away from them.

Josh and Meghan had been devastated in July 2007 when they lost their beloved cat, Stardust, after 17 years. When they decided to get a “new” cat, they agreed that it definitely needed to be an adult who might not have a very good chance of being adopted.

Meghan started looking on the Safe Haven website, and while she saw many cats to choose from, for some reason she kept coming back to the profile of Jilly. Something about her stood out to Meghan -- Jilly was almost four years old, and Meghan couldn't believe she had never had a home before. Josh and Meghan made an appointment to meet Jilly.

“When I first saw Jilly, she was curled up in a little ball in the back of a basket, glaring at me when I peeked in at her. When I tried to pet her, she hissed at me. Naturally I thought, ‘This cat is perfect for us!’

“We decided that Jilly (now named Vega) deserved a chance to have a forever home of her own and took her home that night. Thus began the process of breaking Vega in to home life. At first, she was scared of everything, including us. After a lot of patience, and a lot of trips behind the bed, she began to realize that life in a home was not so bad. She had people to pet her, and feed her, and she had toys to play with.”

While visiting with Vega at the Safe Haven foster home, the foster mom had pointed out that Chandler and Vega were very good friends. The adoption of Chandler (now named Deano), a few weeks later, by Josh and Meghan further helped to bring Vega out of her shell. Today, people who knew her when she was at Safe Haven would not recognize her.

“The fearful, isolated Vega has blossomed into the outgoing, playful, and affectionate queen of the house,” said Meghan. “I am still amazed to this day at how much personality and life she has and that no one was able to see it when she was in foster care. She spends her days now marching through her home on patrol, racing up and down the stairs at top speed, and flopping in front of the nearest available person for belly rubs. She is confident, and outgoing, and very affectionate. And all it took was some time and patience.

“And Deano's happy-go-lucky demeanor would have been invisible to anyone seeing him scared in a cage at Petsmart, but when brought into a home, he became very comfortable and happy,” Meghan said, “It sometimes makes me sad to think of all the cats who are in the same position that Vega and Deano were, who could be a wonderful addition to someone's family if they were given a chance. I would like to encourage anyone who is thinking of getting a cat to consider looking beyond the obvious candidates, and consider a cat that's more in the background. Vega and Deano have made our home complete, and Josh and I cannot imagine our lives without them.”

Thank goodness Meghan and Josh, and others like them, are true "cat people" who can see past a cat’s fear into the true nature of the cat inside. Where would the cats of the world be without them.