Happy Tail: Roxy and JoJo
What happens when a foster parent adopts out the cat she describes as “the one who got away?” If you’re Michelle — who, in 2023, placed beloved foster Archie in his forever home with Rusa — you foster fail with one of your next assignments. In Michelle’s case, that was the sister-brother combo of Roxy and JoJo.
“I always thought I would foster fail with a senior cat or one with a complex medical case… some three-legged, one-eyed cat who would have a hard time getting adopted,” Michelle laughs. “And yet here I was with two sweet, young, beautiful little kitties that I knew would get adopted quickly.
“It was a dilemma. I knew foster failing meant I was closing the door to other needy cats. My husband Jef and I live in a small condo and wouldn’t be able to take in more cats. But these two fit so well into our lives, I just couldn’t give them up.”
Michelle didn’t make the decision lightly; she admits the pair were socialized and ready for adoption after about six months in mid-2024. “But I just couldn’t pull the trigger,” she says. “I took the next six months to solidify my decision, ending my foster journey.”
That the cats, especially Roxy, made it to a forever home at all is a marvel. Recalls dedicated trapper Lori, Roxy and JoJo were part of a sprawling colony in the North York area, with multiple intact females and overlapping litters in a backyard.
“One homeowner’s adult daughter reached out for help and was very supportive of TNR,” Lori explains. “But her mother was resistant and wanted one kitten, Roxy, left behind,” as a form of (sigh) “entertainment” according to fellow trapper Rosary, who abetted the extended trapping mission.
“And of course, while we were there, we discovered more cats across the street,” Rosary adds. “Lori did an incredible amount of emotional and physical work there!”
Back to Lori. “Roxy and her brother were part of a first litter of six, born summer 2023. When trapping took place in July when the cats were about 12 weeks old, the mama cat was TNR’d and five kittens went to Vaughan-based Jules for assessment and then to Annex. Roxy wasn’t trapped at that time due to lack of permission.”
When Lori returned that September to trap a subsequent litter, including two kittens with cerebellar hypoplasia, Roxy entered the trap, clearly broadcasting a desire to be reunited with her brother. “I think the homeowner was especially taken with Roxy because she is pretty,” Lori says. “Unsettling to think that could have been the very thing that kept her from a wonderful home.”
These days, Roxy and JoJo — formerly Chicken and Sparrow, initially dubbed, along with their siblings, as the “bird kittens” — are living their best lives. “Rox is fierce and food-motivated and likes to be pet when she wants to be petted,” Michelle says. “Jo loves being smothered in love and I am glad to do that for him. Jef and I say Roxy is a daddy’s girl and JoJo is a mama’s boy.”
As for Archie, the foster that precipitated Michelle’s eventual foster fail? “Rusa and I have a great relationship, so I keep up with Archie’s life. She sends me pictures and I really appreciate that.”
-Kim Hughes
