"I only took one look at her and fell in love"
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your rescue pet
My name is Christine and I have been living in Ireland with my family since 2008. My husband Joe, my daughter Laura and I, we all love animals, we currently have 2 dogs and 3 cats, one of the cats is Lady who we adopted in January this year from KLAWS. I have known KLAWS since 2011 when we moved to Kenmare. We already had 2 animals (a dog and a cat) from KLAWS and I appreciate the professionalism and enthusiasm of the people working for KLAWS.
I personally adore cats, since I was a little girl, I always wanted cats, they are amazing animals. When I was younger and still lived in Germany, I travelled a lot to countries like Spain and Greece and I used to bring abandoned, stray cats and dogs home, and either kept them myself or found other reliable owners for them.
Lady, a beautiful black kitten from KLAWS is now 8 months old, she is very lively, loves to explore the house and since recently also the garden and surroundings, she gets on like a house on fire with our other animals and loves to play with them. When she is tired after her daily adventures, she loves cuddling, she purrs very loudly and then falls asleep on my husband's or my lap.
What made you decide to adopt?
We have always been adopting animals in order to give them a loving home. This time, there is a bit of a sad story behind: My soul cat Oscar who was also from KLAWS and who was only 4 years old tragically died shortly before Christmas last year from a very severe bladder infection, even though he was in the good care of Kenmare Veterinary Centre ( All Creatures) for nearly 4 weeks and underwent several surgeries and many antibiotic courses, he couldn't be saved. I was inconsolable and never thought that I would want another cat.
Until I saw Lady’s picture on the KLAWS Facebook page. I fell in love immediately. She will never be able to "replace" Oscar, but I know that Oscar would have loved to see me happy again.
How did you find Lady?
As I said Lady’s photo was posted on the KLAWS Facebook page early this year...I only took one look at her and fell in love,
I found out the phone number of her foster mum Sarah and we went over the next day. Apparently, Lady had a very difficult history: she was thrown out of a car in Killarney at the age of 5 weeks and was very poorly; she was lucky that Sarah happened to be there and took her home. Lady was full of fleas and ticks and the vet wasn't sure if she would make it...
Thanks again to lovely Sarah for looking after her so well, we are still in contact, and I regularly send her pictures and give her updates about Lady.
Fair play to all the people fostering animals, I am really grateful for their commitment and hard work.
What have been the highlights of your life with Lady?
Every day is a highlight as she is so active and funny and brings so much joy to the house, she loves to play with the other animals, and to play with us. A big day for her when she was allowed outside for the first time, we had her on a harness just to be on the safe side and she was very excited. She doesn't need the harness anymore, she stays near the house and comes back after one or two hours, she then jumps up on the windowsill next to the front door and gives out as she wants to be left in the house again.
Have you had any challenges with Lady and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge was her being neutered, we were quite worried that everything would go well and that her healing would go okay. When she came home, she was quite drowsy, but very cuddly, she had a cone around her head, but that didn't last very long😊
Apparently, the vets have new surgical technologies and operate on the females on the side or flank of the body to improve the healing after the surgery. That worked very well for Lady, she did not get at the wound for once and the healing went very smoothly, she was in full action again after two days. Neutering is very important; it reduces the stress for the animal and prevents them from having new litters every season.
If you had to describe Lady in three words or phrases, what would they be?
Funny, cuddly and an amazing hunter
Have you any advice for people who are thinking about adopting an animal through KLAWS?
I can only recommend KLAWS for adopting animals as they will give you very professional advice about your new furry friend and will be by your side for the first couple of weeks if there are problems or if you have questions. Be always aware that adopting an animal in some cases may require patience and persistence, especially if your new pet had a problematic past or had been abused. But at the end you will be rewarded with pure love and friendship from your furry friend.
