Betsy, the cat, was already famous when I first heard of her from Simon, of Kitten to Cat Clinic in West London. Simon had read my column and asked if I might be able to help Betsy find her home again. Betsy, a lovely longhair calico cat had been living rough on the streets of Richmond, London for several months, when a nice lady who had been feeding her, brought her to Kitten to Cat because she was concerned about her health. Zeta Frasca, veterinarian, at the clinic had examined and treated her, and posted her photo to Unitedcats.com (a sort of Facebook for cat), where she became rather famous as Cat of the Week. I gladly blogged about Betsy's plight, posted her YouTube video, and created a small photo gallery of Betsy's known history. The saddest part was that Betsy's original owners had microchipped her, but apparently failed to update the microchip information when they moved, and the trail was already several years old, and a dead end.
Fast forward two months: Simon contacted me again with a follow-up about Betsy. Although Kitten to Cat had received many communications about Betsy as a result of all the publicity, her original owners never had made contact. However, a very nice lady from Kew, who had been following Betsy's story, and contacted Kitten to Cat and made application to adopt Betsy. She had been bereft following the loss of her last cat, over two years ago, and felt that Betsy could heal that hole in her heart. Their first meeting seemed to set the tone for their future relationship. In her words,
Simon took me to see her, and I was bowled over by her. She was smaller and prettier than her pictures. She was asleep, but when she opened her eyes she gave me a look that seemed to say: “I know who you are”. We had connected. They let her out of her cage, and she was so friendly, rubbing up against me, I felt it was just for me!Betsy has been in her new home for a little over a month now, and has settled down considerably, thanks to her new owner's understand of Betsy's particular needs. From the first week, which had its share of stresses both for Betsy and her new mum--
Of course nothing is totally stress-free, especially re-homing an angry, neglected cat for the first time. We both had to work hard to get along, and Betsy worked even harder. During the first week, after a lot of biting and scratching, I was sitting in her room, feeling battered and bruised, nursing my sore hand, wondering where we were going to next, when she came up to me, and with every fibre of her being, looked up at me, locked her eyes meaningfully into mine, put out her paw and laid it on my hand, as if to say: “Don’t be sad, I’m not really that bad!”. This was a turning point.-- to the present--
I do have to be mindful of her highly strung nature. If she hasn't had enough rest she is scatty and ratty. But then, who isn't? Biting is part of her character, but at least it is under control now. And to me, inside Betsy there is a sweet natured little cat who just wants to be understood and loved! It's been a remarkable journey, she's so easy to look after, a delight to have, and such a reward after my miserable time.It seems that Betsy's story is complete. Blessings to all the kind folks who helped poor Betsy find a new lease on life, from the kind lady who fed her, to Simon and Zeta who took her in and healed her wounds, to another exceptional lady who could see a sweet cat beneath that fierce exterior, Betsy has finally come home.
Comments
I’m so happy for Betsy! Thanks to all the kind people who helped Betsy.
I am so happy for both Besty the cat and her new owner. My husband and I have a similar story as to how we acquired our cat. Our cat is a dark colored calio with bery fine soft shorter hair who came to us in the late fall, looking sad and her meow was a cry. We had been feeding the raccoons dog food every night when we noticed her and another yellow/orange and white long haired tabby cat, along with several other cats,coming in and eating with the raccoons. Once we discovered the two cats feeding we had to purchase cat food and of course the rest is history as our cat braved coming inside our home and adopting us. We call her Kitty, Kitty and she has rescued us with her loving and sometimes strong attitude. We found out later that an elderly lady who lived on our same street had a large number of cats and when she passed some of the cats eluded teh animal control. We feel that is why we all of a sudden had so many cats coming in to eat. The yellow and white tabby we call Garfield and he still comes in to eat as he now lets us see him without running away, waits for his two cans of cat food, water and dry food to be put out to him, then you must shut the door for him to come in and eat (this has been going on better than a year now).Would love for Garfield to come in so we could groom him and provide him with his needed shots (we only assume that Garfield is male).However, Kitty, Kitty is our love and by rights should only be a house cat as the provious owner had her from claws removed. She does however love to go out in warmer months here in Michigan as she brings her trophy hunts of mice, chimpmunks, moles and birds home to show us. We try to discourage the bird hunts as we also feed the birds daily.
I call Kitty, Kitty my rescue cat as she discovered my illness before anyone did. A little over a year ago I had a condition called a pericardial effusion, this is a condition where the sac that lies between your heart and lung fills with excessive fluid (mine filled with 750 millilitters)requiring emengency surgery to drain the fluid (pericardial window). Just days before discovering my condition Kitty, Kitty jumped on my chest as I was laying down and began to dig at my chest in the area of where I later had surgery. I called my husbands attention to what she was doing as it caused me discomfort and I wanted her to stop but she continued relentless with her ears pulled back and trying to do what seamed like digging my chest open. I thought at the time that she was just having one of her strong attitude spells but afterwards I felt that she knew of my condition before anyone. I now pay attention to her attitudes when it comes to me as I continue to have some heart problems and she pays more attention to me prior me experiencing any discomfort. Some might say that my husband and I rescued Kitty, Kitty: we say she rescued us and are so thankful she came into our lives.
I am so glad that Betsy found a home with such an understanding lady! We all need companionship, people and animals. Anyone who extends their kindness to animals, particularly those that others find hard to love are really special! They are both blessed.
I remember the earlier article about Betsy. I am so glad that she has a loving human and that they are learning together and healing each other’s broken hearts.
Hi Betsy! My name is Betsy too, and I’m also a calico with a little bit of a temper. I’m so glad you found a terrific new home with someone who loves you and understands that it’s okay to be a little cranky sometimes. Regards, Betsy. >^..^
I’m so glad that Betsy has found a loving home. And Donna’s and Kitty Kitty’s story (above) was so uplifting to read too. I love cats and cat-lovers..well, more precisely I love animals and animal-lovers
What a wonderful person you are and what a wonderful heart you have to be patient and loving to a challenging kitty. You will be ultimately blessed for your efforts and it will show in Betsy’s love and trust in you.
Praying you will share many years of love.
I have a question about the microchip since I am considering doing this for my cats. If she was microchipped the owner’s name was surely listed even if the address was out of date. Couldn’t the new people living at the address pass on info such as the landlord or realtor to the vet’s office to find them? Or perhaps a google search for them? It just seems odd that in this day of technology an out of date address would prevent the kitty from being reunited with her people. I ask these things because I want to determine if the microchip service is worth the money. I would be devastated to lose one of my “kids.”
i felt story of betsy is very touchy!!! she reminded me about my cat bhuri… she has been lost from 5 days we are trying best to find her out. i don’t know that she will come back… i hope like betsy my bhuri should get owner who will take care of her..
To Miss Betsy prayers are answered for you and your new lady/mom, enjoy and Love each other.
To Donna – Kitty,Kitty knows things that you as a human do not and can not know – as her effort to assist your body. Cats work very well with the body’s energy fields – I feel you have a very old soul, you are blessed. Learn to speak in thoughts to her. A number of teachers are available to help – have her communicate with Garfield, she can, however we have to honor his choice. My sheltie helped me rescue a pitiful injured dog (very long tearful story). I explained what we needed to do and why to help this dog – within three days the dog was at the vets having needed surgery, he was adopted by a neighbor and lived happily ever after. My sheltie, Denny is the real hero, he listened and acted. A number of my cats communicate after they taught me to listen. We know we are blessed to be with them. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Thanks so much for all the lovely comments. I am pleased to report that Betsy and her new owner are doing well.
To Janet’s question about the microchip details: most of the time vets will send the full name and multiple contact details to the microchip company. Unfortunately in this case all that was recorded was a very common surname and the last known address and phone number was over 12 years old. This made it almost impossible to track as the local council did not have (or could not release) any more information about the people who used to live at the property and no-one in the street could remember the owners. Please don’t let this deter you from microchipping!! If you remember to register all your details with the microchip company and keep them up to date then they work well
I think it is very possible that this cat belonged to a lady in Kew who had to be taken to a nursing home after her daughter who was living nearby suddenly died. It is possible that no one knew about the cat and the lady who had alzheimers may not have told anyone.There was no other family .
I am pleased she is now safe.
pamela