So those of you that follow my Facebook page are already aware of Moira but I have yet to really explain the story behind her. Well here goes!

I recently moved within my apartment building from a 1 bedroom apartment that was above the boiler room (or hell) into a 2 bedroom apartment. One of my favourite things about my new apartment is that it has a walk out into the front yard and a small little porch. This porch combined with all of my cats sitting in the window has invited a few new guests of the feline variety to stop by and visit or grab a quick bite from the bowls of food and water that I leave out for the neighbourhood strays. And there are a lot of strays, a lot more than I realised now that I live away from the main entrance and close to the woods that start from the side of my building.

Shortly after moving in, I was sitting on my couch watching TV and Vega was sitting in her usual spot on the box in front of the window when suddenly she howled. And my girl has a howl that could wake the dead. I quickly jumped up to see what the commotion was when I saw a fluffy tabby cat trying to attack her through the window.

I ran outside to see the cat only to have it lunge at me. I’ve never had a cat jump like that at me before, so needless to say, I was a little shaken. Yes, the cat is only around the 6lb mark but when you see shiny white fangs and razor sharp claws coming at you, you move as quickly as possible to avoid being a target. Which I did – straight back into my apartment. The cat ran away and Vega calmed down within a few minutes. I named the cat Damian because at this point, I was pretty sure it was the spawn of Satan.

The cat came back every few days to eat some of the food that I left out. I kept trying to approach her but all I received in return was hissing and growling. This continued for a couple of weeks until one day she came up to me. She got close enough that I could pet her although it was returned with a swipe of the claws and a solid hiss yet she continued to stay close.

Then one beautiful Sunday afternoon, shortly after I had gotten the kittens, she was back…and she brought friends. I saw at least 4 different stray cats that day including a large Tom that had been following her around the front of my building for a few hours.

I went out to check on her and she came right up to me. I brought her out some wet food and she inhaled it like she hadn’t eaten in a few days and after she was done, she quickly scampered away…but returned an hour later.



She clearly wanted something from me. She suddenly allowed me to pet her and actually sat right next to me while the big Tom that had been chasing her, sat a couple metres away, not willing to get close to me, but waiting for her to leave. But she didn’t. At one point she even crawled up onto my lap and let me pet her. I discovered that she had thick mats of hair around her neck that was impeding her to move her head around freely and she also had some pretty deep wounds on the back of her neck left by Mr. Tom while he was trying to pursue her. She was also underweight and definitely needed some care.

I decided it was time to take action. Up until this point, I had never rescued or trapped a cat on my own. I may have fostered a lot of cats in the last year or so but they had all been caught or trapped by someone else and then brought to me. This was new territory to me but I made a few calls and asked if I could take her in under the care of HCRS and I’d keep her at my place until we knew what to do with her. I got the green light to take her in so I ran into my apartment and grabbed one of my cat carriers and brought it out. She walked right in. So far it was pretty easy…until she got into my apartment.

Oh man, she was not a happy kitty. Although glad to be away from Mr. Tom, the room that I kept her in has a direct view of the front yard and porch – where he sat and watched her. Plus, on the other side of the door where she was, the sounds of all the other cats filled the room. She was stressed but I couldn’t let her out of the room to mingle with the other cats until I knew what we were dealing with. She’d have to be vetted and tested for the usual feline diseases and be given a flea treatment just in case she brought them in from outside. It’s easier to treat one cat for fleas than treating seven cats. And not to mention, I have a terrible reaction to flea bites. I don’t just get a small red bump, I get a giant, red hot, swollen mass anytime I’m bitten.

I decided to name her Moira. I just looked at her and the name popped into my head. When I looked the name up, I realised that the name was of Greek origin and meant “destiny, share, fate” and in Greek mythology the Moirai, also known as the Fates in English, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny.

Perfect.



She slept a lot for the first few days. I left her alone for the most part as I just wanted her to settle to her new life indoors. I tried to interact with her but it usually ended with a bruised ego and bloody hands. She bit, she swatted, she hissed, she growled…..and she drooled.

The last part concerned me. I’ve seen cats foam at the mouth – Vega does it when she has to travel in a car but as soon as she’s out of the vehicle, she’s fine. And I’ve seen cats drool when they are super relaxed or napping (I’m looking at you Captain Claws!) but this was different. There was so much drool that anytime she tried to eat, her drool was just saturating her food and turning it into mush. And she certainly wasn’t relaxed.

A few days later we had a vet appointment arranged for her spay and to test for the usual run of diseases found in stray or outdoor cats. I asked about the drooling because as I mentioned, it just didn’t seem normal. And I was right. The vet discovered ulcers inside of her mouth that were causing it. Another appointment was set up for two weeks later to see if being indoors with a steady supply of food & warmth and plenty of rest would help.



But she still seemed to hate me. I was constantly being swatted at (although the vet cut her claws for me so there wasn’t as much bloodshed) and bitten. I tried to persuade her with treats and wet food and although she would take the treats, she would often hiss while doing so. I tried therapeutic oils in her water and feline pheromones on oven mittens so I could pet her. We even got her a medication that I rub into her ears that would calm her down. Nothing seemed to work. I wanted her to be happy and I didn’t want to fail at my first attempt of taking a cat off the street and getting it ready to be adopted. So far I had been successful at socialising every cat that I had cared for. I didn’t want this girl to be my first failure.

Then last Sunday happened.

I was in the room with her after dinner and she was sitting at the window. A group of kids walked by and she started to hiss. I put my hand on her back to try and calm her down. She turned and looked at me and starting pushing her head up towards my face. I thought she was going to bite my face open so I took a step back. She then jumped up into the penthouse kitty condo (top shelf of an cabinet that I have in the room that is lined with carpet) but continued to push her face towards mine. I stepped back again and went and sat on the couch in the room. She jumped down and jumped up onto the couch, looked at me, and stepped right up onto my lap. She looked right into my eyes and curled up in a ball and laid down.



She laid on her back looking for belly rubs, she would stretch out a paw just looking for it to be held. And I found out why she kept pushing her head towards mine. She just wanted to touch noses, which she has done every day since.



Her aggression towards me is completely gone. She’s been nothing but incredibly loving and cuddly and is a complete joy to be around. Anytime I walk into the room, she promptly gets up from wherever it is that she is laying down at the moment and heads to the couch so she can sit with (or on) me. I even slept in the room one night so that she would have some company for the night. She slept right next to be the entire night and when we both woke up, she sprawled out across my chest and just purred. I gotta say, it took a lot of effort to get out of bed that morning to go to work. I just wanted to stay home and spend time with her!

This weekend my plan is to introduce her to the rest of the cats so that she isn’t secluded in a room by herself any longer. I only like to introduce cats to one another if I know I’m going to be home for a few days to supervise. Plus, if we want to find a nice home for her, it would be nice if she got along with other cats!

And the best news of all? Moira had her follow up visit at the vet yesterday and the mouth ulcers have cleared right up. Yay!