Sweet, mellow Blaze got a rough start in life and it took a lot of ups and downs before she got her happy ending. We persisted and so did she. Originally, she showed up with new babies at a horse barn. Normally horse barns love having cats around, but this one did not. It was owned by a man who regularly sent the ranch
dogs after cats to kill them. Luckily one of the boarders decided to get Blaze and her babies out of harms way. Since Blaze couldn’t be touched, she used a trap to catch her and took her to her home.
Unfortunately, Blaze’s babies became very sick and they did not make it. Her foster felt so badly for Blaze that she made it her mission to teach Blaze that people could be kind so she could find a safe, forever home instead of being returned to a very uncertain future as a feral cat.
It took time and patience but Blaze warmed up. First to her foster mom, then to others. Blaze started attending our pet fairs twice a month. She was completely calm. In fact, she was so calm she slept in the back of her “show cage” the entire time. People would remark how cute she was…and then move on to the next, more animated, cat. An entire year went by. And then a second year. And no home for Blaze.
Her foster mom lost hope that Blaze would find a home. Unknown to us, she gave her to a friend to be delivered to another friend in the Sierra Foothills. Blaze was to be a barn cat again. This barn welcomed her, but Blaze didn’t know it. To her it looked and smelled just like the scary place from her past. And she missed sleeping on her foster dad’s lap while he watched TV. She was really sad. This created a huge rift between us and the previously much-appreciated volunteers. Her former foster mom went to see her, but she left her there. Meanwhile, the barn owner, seeing how unhappy Blaze was, gave her to a family. Blaze was back inside, but no longer in her large quiet home. Now she was in a small, very active and noisy apartment with 3 very young children. This was not what Blaze wanted.
But, we were committed to getting her back. A bit later, we received an application for one of our cats. As we talked with the family we realized this cat was not a good match, but Blaze might be. We told them we had another cat that might be a possibility, but we didn’t reveal her current situation because we didn’t’ want to “guilt” them into taking her. While were committed to getting Blaze out of her current situation. we wanted her next home to be the right home – her forever home. The family was interested in meeting her, so the next step was to convince her former foster
to retrieve her. Fortunately, she was feeling guilty about Blaze in the barn, and worse when she found out Blaze was now in a small apartment. She went and got her and brought her to us. We wanted Blaze to have time to relax and know she was safe. We needn’t have worried – her first night back she was playing and rubbing and purring. Even though she was in yet another new place, somehow she knew she was safe and loved and everything was going to be okay. A week later we arranged a meet’n’greet. It was love at first sight for both Blaze and her new family. She was so obviously delighted that – for the first, and probably only time ever – we did a “same day adoption” and left her with them. We checked in daily at first and there was no question this was the right home for her. She slept under their bed the first night and in their bed with them starting the second night. Blaze finally had a home and a family she loved that loved her completely.
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