Two-year-old Orin was hanging around a local ranger station for a month before he was trapped and brought to Marin Humane. He had been fighting with the cat who lived at the station and was thought to be semi-feral. After being stuck in a trap all night, Orin was extremely stressed when he arrived at the shelter and sank into the back wall of the cage when we peeked in at him. But after two days, he started meowing a small, chattery meow, and when we opened the door, he ventured a hand sniff, looking around nervously. This turned into accepting cheek rubs, then fully leaning into them, rolling over, and making biscuits all in a matter of minutes. Clearly, there was a friendly kitty in there, but this cat needed a slow, intentional approach.
That’s where our feline behavior team jumped in. Funded by generous gifts from Mark M. Glickman and The Joe Willie Project, our expert staff understood that Orin wanted to trust people – he just needed time and patience. Our trained staff and volunteers visited and interacted with Orin on his own terms, and he made rapid progress. We started clicker training Orin, which would help whenever we needed him to go into a crate or kennel.
When Orin was ready to be neutered, our feline behavior team was instrumental in making the experience of being taken out of Orin’s current housing and transferred to the clinic less stressful. Orin recovered well and was ready to be made available for adoption. We made sure that Orin would be placed in a home with lots of cat experience and with a family who understood his needs. Orin’s lucky day came when a potential adopter visited the shelter in search of an indoor/outdoor cat. Orin charmed her when they met, and the adopter decided that he was her cat!
At Marin Humane, we are extremely fortunate to be able to give every adoptable animal all the time and care they need until they find a loving home. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of Mark M. Glickman and The Joe Willie Project, which enables us not only to give the gift of time, but also extraordinary behavior and medical care to senior cats and cats with special needs, like Orin.
