Thank you for your support! You make it possible for us to help cats with nowhere else to go, like 7-month-old Mavi, so we want to share her story with you.
Mavi is a confident girl who liked to bite fingers — not in a mean way, but out of curiosity. However, she bit HARD, and would draw blood if we weren’t careful in our interactions. Her bite history, coupled with her stressed reaction to her shelter cage, made it challenging for anyone to see how sweet she might be. Knowing she’d grown up in a home crowded with too many animals and hadn’t received enough human attention to get socialized by 7 months old, we thought we might be able to help, and brought her to our Adoption Center.
Mavi at our Adoption Center. Photo by Erica Danger.
At first, Mavi wouldn’t let anyone close enough to pet her, but she adored playtime with the other cats at the Adoption Center. We worked to get her more comfortable with people through wand toys, puzzle games, and carefully doled out treats — and advised our guests not to let her sniff their fingers to say hello. Soon, she was the star of the show, playing with everyone and always first in line for treats, but darting away when people got too close. Then, after three months of slow but steady progress, her playful energy suddenly dropped. We got her to the vet, and learned that this young cat had developed stomatitis — her body had started to reject her own teeth, and they’d need to be extracted.
During her recovery from dental surgery we moved Mavi from the big room to a private Studio, and gave her pain medicine to help her feel better. With her painful teeth gone, a lightbulb went off in her mind, and she began to show a sweet side we’d never seen before, asking for pets and flirting with us. A Whole New Mavi! Once she was feeling well again, we got her back with her other cat friends, who she’d missed, and continued to work on gently petting her with increased success. That’s when her adopter met her and fell head over heels.
Mavi with her adopter.
Mavi moved in with her new guardian and two new cat friends a few weeks ago. We readied ourselves to provide them with support and help inspire patience for what could be a slow bonding experience. But Mavi surprised us again, and is already sleeping in bed with her adopter at night. She busted out of her starter room, immediately became pals with one of the resident cats, and asked to be brushed in the lap of her adopter. We could not be happier for our girl! Six months after coming into our care, Mavi found her home. Her adopter tells us that, after losing someone close to them, Mavi is helping to heal their heart.
Thank you for allowing us to help cats like Mavi, and the many more who need extra care and patience on their journey to adoption. You made sure Mavi had time to bloom, got the medical care she needed, and could find a loving home after her rocky start in life. Your support is transformative — for cats and humans alike — and we simply can’t thank you enough!
Mavi in a play tunnel. Photo by the Cat Man of West Oakland.