How Tebaldi came to live with me (Cat of the day Nov 8 2000)

A friend told me of a situation she had head about at a block of flats (apartments) in the city. A couple living in the flats, who had four cats, had an ugly divorce. The husband left and then the wife moved out, taking her 3 cats with her - leaving HIS 4 year old cat behind.

Neither ever came back for Tebaldi and she hung around the flats for four years waiting for the family to return. Kind people who lived in the flats put food out for her & took her to the vet but couldn't adopt her because they had their own pets.

For four years poor Tebaldi stayed outside the flat in which she had once lived with her family, in all weathers. She became increasingly stressed & started to overgroom, licking huge patches of white fur off her body. She licked her bare skin until sores formed. The vet prescribed valium for her to reduce her stress but suggested that Tebaldi would never recover until she had her own family again. He felt the over grooming was her way of trying to look clean & tidy so that someone would adopt her.

When I heard this story, I decided that I must rescue this poor puss even though I lived then in a one bedroom flat where cats were not allowed. We took a cat cage and trapped Tebaldi: she was scared and yowling and was covered in raw skin & sores.

When I got her home she hid behind the shelves & was purring with fear. She didn't eat, drink or poo for days & I thought she would die. Eventually, very slowly, she started to come out from hiding and eat and drink & use the litter tray. She was scared of me for a long time but at night she would sleep under my bed & I could hear her purring. And as soon as she moved in, she stopped licking her fur off and I could see fine new hair growing in the bald patches!

That was five years ago. Having Tebaldi has completely changed my life. I soon got a better job & was able to buy a little house with a fenced garden so Tebaldi can sleep in the sun. She is a beautiful, intelligent cat with such a gentle nature and we are best friends. She sleeps by my head every night.
I cannot understand how people could have a pet like her for years and simply walk away and abandon her - it still makes me so angry to think of the years she suffered. But she is happy now!

Thanks for listening to Tebaldi's story.

[ July 02, 2001: Message edited by: Tebaldi ]