Jennifer’s Fur Family

Hello – I was just on your webpage and reading the ‘Dear MEOW’ stories, and thought that you might be interested in an update on two of your former kitties, Jerard and Shelly.

Jerard was featured in the March 2016 MEOWzine as a pretty sad looking fellow with his tail amputated, a completely shaved body, and recovering from surgery for diaphragmatic hernia.  He was a pretty strange looking fellow!

Jerard came to me in April 2016, as company for shy Smitty, who had lost her mom Kennedy a few months earlier (both Smitty and Kennedy were MEOW cats too, from the early days of the MEOW Foundation).  Smitty and Jerard bonded almost immediately, but sadly Smitty soon got sick and passed away last October.  Although I thought I might try to maintain a ‘one cat only’ household, I worried about Jerard being lonely all day and when I travelled, so in January 2017 I brought Shelly home.

Jerard and ShellyJerard was not initially a fan of Shelly, and I was amazed that a 7 lb cat could dominate 11 lb Jerard, but she showed him who was boss (not him).  She was pretty tough on him initially, but Jerard had a great solution – win her over with kindness!  I watched her try to grab him for a wrestle, and instead he grabbed her and started grooming her face – and he won her over.  Shelly is now the same weight as Jerard, but they have come to ‘an understanding’ of sorts, and I catch them cuddling up when they think I’m not looking.  They are great company to each other and keep each other very active.

And, Jerard’s fur all grew back in and he is utterly beautiful – tails are overrated anyways.

I can’t believe how lucky I am to have these two in my life.  Thanks MEOW for all the great work you do.

Jennifer