Happy Tail: Molly (formerly Cirilla)
Discovering a cat’s personality is one of the best things about bringing a rescue cat into your home. They often start out shy and scared, recovering from whatever their life had been like before, but you can watch them blossom into unique, sweet, and goofy cats.
That’s what happened with Molly (formerly Cirilla), who was trapped as part of a colony living in a warehouse. She stayed with several fosters in an attempt to be socialized, ultimately ending up with Alex, a foster with the ACR.
“Cirilla is my favourite cat I ever fostered,” Alex says. “Out of the, I think 10 cats I’ve had, she’s the only one I thought seriously about keeping.”
For the first month, Molly was scared and steered clear of Alex. But as time went on, she warmed up to him and started to come out of her shell.
Unfortunately, Molly had too much energy for Alex’s small apartment. There was collateral damage, in terms of Alex’s belongings, especially at night when she would want to play. Alex would often get up in the morning wondering what destruction was waiting to be discovered — usually plants.
Molly seemed to hate an orchid Alex was growing and would throw it on the floor, no matter where he tried to move it away from her, and one time ripped apart an air plant and scattered it around the apartment.
“I think she’d have been fine with more room to run around, but without it, she was forced to entertain herself any way she could.” Molly needed more space to roam and play, so Alex had to let her find a new forever home.
Melanie had been a dog person for much of her life, but life in a high-rise apartment seemed more suited to a cat. Her family members had owned cats, so she had some experience with them, and it seemed like the right time in her life to join Team Cat.
Molly was skittish at first, just as she had been with Alex, and needed time to adjust to Melanie. For the first few months, Molly hid under the bed as much as she could and didn’t like being pet. Eventually, she warmed up to her new home and now is a sweet, loving cat who follows Melanie around the apartment, rubbing against her legs and waiting for pets.
“It’s like night and day compared to what she was like when I first got her,” Melanie says.
But it isn’t always smooth sailing. Molly still gets nervous getting into her carrier, which made moving back to Mel’s hometown of Thunder Bay a challenge. Vet trips are also hard on Molly, and she was prescribed Gabapentin to get through it.
“She just gets really scared because I think she doesn’t like to feel like she’s being trapped. I don’t know what happened to her before ACR,” Melanie said.
Molly had to have all her teeth pulled after an infection in her mouth, and Melanie noticed she also has scars on her ear and tongue.
“I’m wondering if an animal had attacked her, I don’t know. I feel like she maybe went through a lot of trauma before.”
Regardless of what happened to Molly in the past, her future is secure. She’s now safe and happy living in her forever home, watching birds out the window, playing with scrunchy toys and meowing at Melanie for lickable treats, her favourite.
“She’s really come a long way. She’s changed a lot for the better, and I’m really seeing so much of her personality now. She’s really goofy, really sweet, and we’re really bonded. And I didn’t really see her personality in the beginning definitely see it now,” Melanie said. “She’s my fur baby for life.”
-Jennifer Reid
