Welcome back to another blog and this post is just one of the many things that I feel extremely passionate about.
For the last seven years along with my twin sister we have adopted six cats and I’m grateful we are able to give them better lives.
It’s been a joy to grow our family in the best possible way whilst giving these kitties a second chance at life. There have been heart breaking moments and there are moments that make everything worth it and i know we wouldn’t change them for the world .
One thing that’s particularly heart breaking is how people can hurt , abandon these defenceless animals.
We have adopted a variety of different ages cats . We strongly believe that the right cat or kitten will find you.
Meet our cats
Murfy
Our eldest cat murfy we adopted when he was a year old . He was originally an indoor cat and was raised with a smallish dog. He was initially quite nervous and unsure but six years on he’s a confident boy who likes to spend most of his time outdoors and likes to play with our German shepherd. He was rehomed to us as his owners no longer could have him. He’s the dad of family and he shows all the cats how things are done . He definitely chose us as we had two cats in the UK that looked him and one of them passed away whilst the other sadly went missing and when we saw murfy he looked like our missing cat. In a way it was like he found us.
Leonard
We adopted our sweet boy Leonard “lenny “ when he was about 6 weeks old. We had been wanting to find murfy a sibling as we didn’t want him living a life or isolation and to give him someone to play with if he Wanted to.
Lennys first weeks weren’t pleasant, and this is one of those heartbreaking moments that I shouldn’t be writing, but I am he along with his litter were found in a bag in the bin.
I could go on all day at why someone thought this was okay to dump a litter of defenceless animals in the bin but by some small miracle he was found and at 6 weeks old we adopted our little boy and he completed our family. He was a bit of a dare devil if anyone was going to do something crazy it was lenny .
Whilst murfy was chilled out lenny was like a teenager always wondering and getting up to mischief . Sadly one day he made his was down to the main road and was hit. When we found him in the morning it was too late, we buried him in our garden and he lives on through a vibrant red rose .
He walked the rainbow bridge at 15 months we talk often at how lenny was living a life someone never wanted him to have . He touched our lives In a way that we will always be grateful for.
Wellington
After Lennys sudden passing we didn’t want murfy wondering to go find lenny so we Began to look for a friend for murfy.
As sudden as it was we felt we needed to start looking for a friend for murfy and that is when we saw Wellington. He along with his sister were one it was one of many posts on Algarve cat Rehoming and as soon as we Saw him that we knew he was ours , his sister had already found a home .
He was being looked after by a lovely lady who worked with ARA ( Animal Rescue Algarve) as a Fosterer.
When he met murfy for the first time it was love at first sight.
Wellington immediately came out of his shell and levitated towards murfy and would follow him everywhere. He’s definitely murfys, right-hand man, and dad in training.
Edmund
Our youngest born male cat is our sensitive boy who we affectionately call eddy or winge as he likes to go around crying when we aren’t home, he’s a real mummy’s boy. We found eddy on Rehoming cats algarve a few days after we welcomed Wellington into our family.
When Wellington and eddy met for the first time it wasn’t love at first sight but after a couple of days they were cuddled together asleep. Eddy is kind of our resident bad boy and we often say is the reincarnation lenny .
Beatriz
Our first female cat and most unexpected member to join our family. Its a truly beautiful story of how she came to join our family.
We like to say she chose us as we were starting work and she just strolled up to us and we kept seeing her and wondering about her until a week or so later the person we were working for said if we could help find her a home and she kept showing up at his house and he was unable to take her.
We told him about Algarve Cat Rehoming but there was so many cats looking for homes and asked if we could take her and he’d sponsor her.
We couldn’t say no and three became four . Beatriz has evolved so much in the almost 2 years since adopted her as she could be quite stand offish as she was a street cat for the first year and a half.
Beatriz name combined in Latin means Voyager, blessed and explorer which she is. Its a name we chose to symbolise her journey to us
She has a strong willed personality but is so affectionate and loves a cuddle with us humans. She is slowly warming up to her siblings with murfy being her favourite , we say she’s like his wife.
Ginny
We thought we had reached our full capacity with four cats but suddenly four became five .
Ginny had shown up at the place our mum helps out at and being a pub/ restaurant it’s no place for any animal so they asked if we’d take her and the moment I saw her she was ours all the way to my heart
It hasn’t been a smooth journey with Ginny “gin gin” as she has had some rather worrying health concerns. Just a few after, we rescued her, and she had her first vaccinations she came into season, and she had lumps appearing on her stomach. At its worst, she had a six pack and had trouble getting about .
We took her to a vet and after multiple different treatment attempts we finally found a solution that she Began responding to.
The reason this happened is because she produces a lot of hormones and combined with it being her first season her body couldn’t cope with it and luck wasn’t on our side as we couldn’t have her done for a month from her first appointment but our amazing vets managed to squeeze her in after her treatment finished.
She is now on the mend and thriving. She is definitely our wild child a free spirit. Sometimes we wonder if she has a brain as likes go and bull doze through everything .
I spoke with the lovely Rebeca from ARA
If you are unable to adopt what can you do ?
If you cannot adopt you can always donate (food, beddings,toys,money) Foster an animal while they wait for theyr forever homes, share the social media posts to reach more people possible, or volunteer, we accept volunteers for dog walks, socializing with animals or even take a dog out of the shelter for the day
Important things to remember when finding a stray ?
When you find a stray, if you can, take the dog to a vet clinic and check for a microchip (it’s free) advertise the animal on social media with a photo, as it might be owned, if you cant keep the animal you can always feed the animal and give water (specially in the summer) try and contact local associations to check for availability, and last resort, contact the local municipal kennels, if the animal is injured and you cannot help, contact the local GNR (police)
Is it important for cats to have siblings/companions ?
We think that is important for the cats to have companions, as cats are very playful animals and love company
Any advice for those thinking of adopting ?
Make sure you can adopt animal (finances, time and patience) everyone in the household should agree with the adoption as it is a very important decision, animals live long and should always be part of the family, and make sure you have love to give to them
Looking for their forever homes
Female
Male
I want to say thank you to all those who help these beautiful animals in their own ways . Your work and dedication doesn’t go unnoticed . Thank you for taking the time to read this post. That means so much to me .