SUKI

HISTORY:  Suki was trapped where she was living with a colony of cats.  

Suki is the latest addition to the Senior Room. She arrived in late October. She’s from a colony where Volunteer Ed has been feeding cats for the last three years. He thinks she’s about six years old. She hissed at me the first time I met her.

But her transformation over the last two months with me—a stranger—has been remarkable. I easily petted her on our second meeting. Thereafter, she seemed to recognize me by coming forward when I approached her condo.

Her progress toward socialization is best described by our last three encounters. At the first, Suki came to the front of her condo. I opened the doors and petted her for a couple of minutes. Then, I boldly picked her up and cuddled her. We walked around for maybe two minutes. She didn’t struggle.

At our next encounter, she came forward as usual. I petted her for only 90 seconds before picking her up and sitting down in a chair. Again, she didn’t struggle and I actually heard a brief purr. She appeared relaxed. She made no effort to return to her condo although she was within jumping distance of it.

On New Year’s Day, I had a breakthrough with Suki. I sat in a chair and opened her condo doors. With no hesitation, Suki walked onto my lap. I heard a longer purr and she gave me lots of head butts and cheek rubs. And one Wet Willy lick in my left ear. I petted her for almost 20 minutes.

Other volunteers have had similar results. This sweet girl is far from feral. Could she be someone’s abandoned pet?

Volunteer Update Feb 2025: Sweet SUKI has a volunteer admirer and boy,  has he fallen hard for our sleek black velvet kitty!   The volunteer, who shall remain nameless, comes to visit kitties in our senior room regularly a few times each week.   When asked (in a very hushed way so the other kitties could not hear) who his fave kitty was,  he replied “SUKI!”  Why Suki?  Well,  pull up a chair in front of her condo and she’s hopping in his lap,  dancing in his lap, kissing his face and head butting him.  Hard to compete with that level of attention, right?  Lots of amazing things about Suki but putting all things in perspective,  she  had been living in a colony for a good 3 years and just look how she is with us humans!!  The humans who were managing the colony at some point felt she was declining health wise so they trapped her to provide her with a more sustainable existence.  That’s when we opened our doors for her.   She’s still a newer kitty for us but doing very, very well.  We are monitoring her closely to identify any health concerns.  In the interim,  she’s charming the socks off everyone.   Soft and gentle in her ways, loving and doting, she’s a very peaceful, amicable gal looking for that full time pet job that had eluded her for several years.   Perhaps your home and your lap might be just what the 2 of you are in search of.  Please ask for SUKI today.