Hi, my name is Mindy and I would like to tell you how one of the West Lothian Cat Protection's pens and the money that you send every month gave me my second chance of happiness. I was about five years old when my previous owner took me home from another rescue shelter. No one really knows much about my life before then. I was happy and loved and for seven years spent my days quietly getting stoked and lying in the sun when the weather was warm. I was so contented and settled that I thought I would stay there forever but unbeknown to me my owner became ill and could not care for me properly any more. Cats Protection don't have many foster spaces so they suggested to my owner that they could put me on their website and rehome me straight from my home. That way it would be less unsettling for me. I was on the website for quite a long time and no one phoned for me - even though I am very pretty and healthy having had all my vaccinations each year and regular health checks. Eventually, my owner could not cope any longer and asked Cats Protection if they would take me in as a foster cat. I was very bewildered and phased and I didn't know where I was and wondered what I had done wrong. My foster mum was lovely to me and she spent the evenings stroking me and talking to me. I wasn't very pleased though when she bundled me into a basket and took me to the vets for my checkup and microchip! I had my favourite tuna or sardines every day and my foster mum used to play with me with little balls and a dangly fish on a stick, but I missed the company and I missed the fresh air and being able to lie in a nice sunny spot. The days passed and I wondered if I was going to be there forever. Occasionally, new people would come to see me but they always went away again. In the pen next door I noticed new cats come and go every now and again and I wondered where they were going and why it was never me. Then came the really hot weather and although my foster mum came every morning and took the sides off the pen it always felt stuffy. She put a fan on the side of my cabin but she had to take it away again as I was frightened of it - and the flies used to drive me mad.....my foster mum used special fly killers and repellents but they were really bad when it was hot and she couldn't use a spray. I was starting to get really stressed and I used to fight through the perspex with the cat next door....boy did he used to wind me up!!!  By that time I was so grumpy I used to growl and hiss when anyone came into my pen. I would purr and headbutt my foster mum but when she tried to go away I used to scratch her and bite her legs - it wasn't because I didn't like her but that I didn't want to be left on my own. My foster mum was upset because she knew I was a nice cat underneath and she knew that the longer I stayed where I was the more stressed I was becoming but because of this she worried that this was putting off potential owners. The nights started to get darker and the weather got a bit cooler and I wondered if I would ever get out in the sun again before winter and then one night in September everything changed for me. A nice lady had phoned and asked specifically for me. My foster mum and her friend from Cats Protection went round to see the lady and told her all about me. She was not put off at all and came round to visit me. Even when I scratched her and bit her so badly that my foster mum had to give her a plaster, she loved me straight away. I want everyone to know that she is the best mum in the whole wide world and she was well worth waiting for. I couldn't have got a better mum if I had knitted her myself!! Now I feel really bad for biting her that night!!! She totally understood why I was feeling the way I was and she could see straight through my "temporary grumpiness". From the minute I arrived home with my new mummy I have settled in so well. The first night I got here I had a good old explore and within a couple of days I was sitting on my mummy's knee purring. I get all the attention and love here that I was craving and I like nothing better than to snuggle up to my mum when she's wearing her dressing gown! I have a lovely Auntie and even a Godmother, plenty of people who spoil me rotten. My mummy keeps in touch with my foster mum as well so that she can regularly find out how I'm doing. I've even started to potter about in the garden now while my mum has been out gardening. I don't stray far from her because I like to know that she's nearby but the fresh air does feel good again. I love my new mum and I feel like I've been here forever - if she comes home late I even lie right in front of her to make sure she makes up for leaving me alone and that she gives me her undivided attention. As she says, I still do have my "moments" but my mum knows I'm a good wee cat underneath it all and I feel loved here and I know I will always be safe and secure. I know I'm home now and this is where I'll stay.
A BIG purry thank you to my new mum who is SIMPLY THE BEST!!!

PS - now my foster space has been taken by another little cat just like myself who is looking to land on her dainty wee paws just like I have.

Fosterers note: Many thanks to Mindy's fabulous new owner, you are just the kind of owner all us fosterers would like for our cats. You were not put off her at all and even when you could have taken a cat with less "issues" you loved her for what she was, You have given her the life she deserves. Bless you. Mindy's story is not typical and a lot of cats who come into our pens settle very well. Unfortunately, for too many of them, this is a luxury which they have never had. We try our best to provide these wee treasures with a cosy bed, good tasty food, treats, veterinary care and as much TLC as we can. But this is only meant to be a "half way house", ideally for as little time as possible as no amount of foster care can take the place of a nice permanent home with a loving family of their own. It is upsetting that a lot of the cats we bring in are older, cats which have lived as part of a family all their lives and suddenly, through no fault of their own find, they themselves homeless and unloved. Some of these little "lovelies" are old ladies and gents who need comfort and pampering in their twilight years. But as I always say, these are the lucky ones, there are many more out there who would be glad of a warn cosy pen. When we rehome a cat from one of our pens it is always occupied again within 24 hours - without fail. And sadly there will always be more waiting for their chance.
Many thanks to everyone for the money you so kindly donate every month. Every last penny is used to help little treasures like Mindy have that much needed second chance of happiness. Without your generosity we could not help the cats that we do.