Pets' Corner

Hi @Madmactouche Poor Jojo, humans can be so horrible sometimes, your daughter was very courageous to rescue him like that, and I’m glad you felt able to offer him a loving home. It can be really hard when you’ve had such a close bond with a previous cat. There have been one or two where I struggled to feel able to “replace” them for that reason, but then I thought of the cats in rescue centres (some of which are pretty grim) desperate for a home, and me with a vacancy in mine, that I’ve always, eventually, brought a new puss into my life. They came with all sorts of emotional baggage, and such different characters, some of them real scaredy cats who’d had a horrible time, and we’ve adored them all.

Do persevere with your relationship with Jojo. He’s got a long way to go to trust all humans again, but it’s great, and understandable, that he is so close to your daughter and “getting there” with you. With a lot of consistent patience he will learn to bond better with you as well. Spend quality quiet time with him, sit with him when you’re just reading, talk quietly to him from a short distance, avoid sudden movements or making a noise around him, offer your hand for him to sniff or head rub rather than just going in and stroking him, play with him with toys on string, bribe him with treats (!) etc, so that he (a) learns you’re not a threat and (b) he can control the situation by approaching you, instead of the other way round.

(I used to follow a cat behaviour forum and picked up so many useful tips, they really helped with some of the more unhappy cats we’ve had.)

Looking forward to seeing pics of Jojo!

He’s gorgeous! Love his jacket too

Good on your daughter Madmactouche she sounds like me I went to a horse sale and witnessed abuse of the animals many years ago. Following a discussion with my brother who worked for DEFRA my friend and I joined a police and DEFRA operation we posed as schoolkids ( both in our 20,s) and filmed the sale to get evidence. There was a big operation and several people were charged, we later bought 7 ponies to save them going for meat to Europe.

Jojo sounds like he has every right to be a little stand off but it sounds like he has a great home now but your family have given him a chance of regaining his faith in the human race.

Just discovered Pets section .. love it, this is Martha Guinness a lovely lively Welsh Sheep Girl. She is five, and with all the past exercise, blame her for wearing out my hips, but won't have it anymore way

Little monkey! (Almost literally!)

We’ve found the nouse, it’s under the sofa in the dining room, happily tucking into all the peanut butter we baited the humane traps with... yes, we didn’t set them properly. Now sorted, hopefully it won’t be too long before we can rehome him. Meanwhile Toby checks up on him from time to time to make sure the dangerous intruder doesn’t go off with the family valuables.

The mouse drama is resolved. He finally made it into the peanut butter laden trap, having spent another afternoon under the sofa (I had been getting concerned about him getting dehydrated so put a milk bottle top full of water down there with him), and Mr LM released him safely away from the cats this morning. What a tale that little fella would have to tell his mates!