♥ Our new ginger addition Ollie ♥

Hello everyone

 

Well as you all know our beloved cat Tommy sadly passed away a few weeks ago and we were both devastated.  I know people think its only a cat but Tommy was much more than a cat, he was our little baby and he will always be so dearly missed.

 

We missed hearing the sound of paws thudding around the place so in an attempt to try and make the house feel like a home again we decided to go to Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary to look for another cat.  Holly Hedge is a lovely place literally in the middle of nowhere with fields and countryside all around.  

 

We browsed around the cats, there were so many looking for homes it was heartbreaking!  We were not going to get a ginger cat again as we thought it would bear too much resemblance to Tommy....but then we saw Orlando (now Ollie). 

Ollie
 

 

 

At first we walked straight past him as he was hiding in a small box in his pen, we read the notes about him and they said that he had been there a while and had been overlooked by everyone because he was extremely shy and nervous so he did not sell himself.   He could not be homed with dogs as he is terrified of them or children so that ruled quite a few people out.  As we walked past his pen for the second time something made me stop...he was still hiding but as we spoke to him he started to venture out of the cramped box, we later found out he had not done this for anyone else who had visited.  We decided to go into his pen to see him and with that he rolled over and let Mike tickle his tummy...he was so cute but was very nervous and shy.

 

We were used to having a cat that was rather shy and nervous as Tommy was like a cat on a hot tin roof, I actually think that title was made for him!  But in time Tommy came around and gradually relaxed and trusted us.  Tommy was a street cat, he was a survivor, he was tough but he was also nervous of humans.   He only ever really trusted us and our family and close friends. RIP dear Tommy.

Ollie loves the camera

 

We immediately went to the reception and reserved Ollie, the lady on the reception was so happy as she said we had been the first people that had been interested in him and the first people he had been interested in! So he chose us as much as we chose him.

 

 

A few days later we had a home visit which we passed with no problems.  Luckily the lady who did the home visit had taken Ollie home for a few weeks as she wanted to adopt him but unfortunately her cat would not accept Ollie and kept trying to attack him.   She said he was really loving and affectionate and she rather fell in love him him.  She said she was in tears when she bought him back to the sanctuary so she was really glad that we wanted him.
 

We picked him up a week later and for the first week he interacted now and again, he is very affectionate and loving but also very nervous.  Sometimes when we go to stroke him his ears go flat back and he looks terrified like we are going to hit, sadly I wonder if he has been abused in the past!  All we know about him is that he is roughly 1 and a half to 2 years old and was found wandering the streets....hungry. 
 

He is starting to come out of his shell, he sleeps in our bed every night and loves to cuddle up with us.

Loving his new toy

 

Hopefully in time he will become even more trusting of us.

 

 

 

Lisa-Jane

xx