Benny the Bengal

[nancyjac]

Benny is one of the cats at the shelter.  He came about a month ago when his owner surrendered him to the shelter.  At first he would hiss and growl anytime anybody even just walked past his kennel.  Every time I was at the shelter I would stop outside his kennel and talk to him for a couple of minutes, ignoring his hisses and growls, or rather treating them like they were just his responses to our little conversations.  After a few days, I would open his kennel gate to have the conversations, a few more days and I started to put my hand in the kennel.  By now he had stopped hissing but still cowered in the back of his kennel.  He finally started coming up to my hand and rubbing his head and chin against it.  Finally, earlier this week, I left his kennel door open and just sat down a few feet away.  He came out of his kennel and rubbed up against my legs.  He let me pick him up and put him in my lap.  After a few minutes, he jumped down and started to explore.  He walked by a few of the kennels with other cats in them and just looked, no hissing or growling, just looking.  Since then, he has been fine with who ever does the daily cleaning and feeding in that group of kennels, letting them pick him up out of the kennel and letting him roam around the room while his digs are being cleaned.  

Benny is typical of cats who are owner surrendered.  In a way, they can be harder to adopt out than  strays.  Strays tend to be pretty content at the shelter because they are warm and safe and eating regularly, so it is usually a step up from their previous digs.  For owner surrenders though, it is typically pretty depressing to go from having the run of a house to being cooped up with hundreds of other cats.  It takes a lot of work and patience to help them adjust so that they have an opportunity to be adopted.

[nancyjac]

Unfortunately, Benny is now sick.  He has a very stuffed up nose and was gagging up some flem which has made him really cranky again.  We are going to to have to force oral meds down him for the next several days, so once he is well again, I may have have to start all over again building trust.

[zodiacqueen]

Glad to hear that Benny's coming around nicely with your TLC!!  And, you are so right, the surrendered animals are much more terrified, then the strays that have never had a home to begin with.  It's very heartbreaking.  Poor Benny.

Have any idea what Benny's story is?  I hope the special guy gets a wonderful home with a loyal owner.  He surely deserves it!!