Hawaiian Humane Society recently welcomed a black cat named Gerald, who sadly found himself without a home.
After Gerald’s owners decided to move there was unfortunately no place for him in the new home.
The poor thing lost all he knew in an instant and he showed obvious signs of distress. As Brandy from the Humane Society said in a video:
“He was so nervous. His pupils were really dilated. You could tell he was distressed.”
Being left behind by his family, Gerald found himself stressed, scared, and confused. Brandy knew the shelter environment made it even harder for Gerald to come out of his shell, so they had to figure out a way to make him more comfortable. As she said:
“Not every animal is going to thrive in the shelter environment. We, as a team, thought our office was a great solution for him.”
So instead of keeping Gerald with all the other cats in the crates, they moved him to their office space.
Although the office was quiet, Gerald was still scared and shy to explore. He would hide under the table or crawl around on the floor.
The shelter staff was patiently waiting for Gerald to come out of his shell and after a few weeks, he finally gave in.
He allowed the staff to pet him and scratch him, proving to everyone that he was just a cuddle bug like any other cat!
However, once he started feeling a bit more comfortable something amazing happened. As Brandy mentioned:
“After a couple of days, he started actively seeking attention. I would be sitting there and he would just lightly tap me.”
Sweet Gerald soon realized that all the cuddles he received weren’t that bad at all, so he decided to ask for more.
While Brandy and her colleagues were working, Gerald would sit next to them and just paw at them for attention.
He would gently bring his paw up and tap Brandy on her arm, almost as if he was saying ‘stop working and cuddle with me’. As Brandy also shared:
“I called it his ‘Toe Bean Tap’ because he did it so calmly.”
Since Gerald finally came out of his shell and opened up to everyone at the shelter, this meant only one thing. Gerald was finally ready for a new forever home.
Finding him a new home was super easy, everyone wanted to take such a cuddle bug home. However, saying goodbye to him was hard. As Brandy recalls:
“When it came time to say goodbye, I remember thinking at the time, ‘My face is contorting because I’m trying really hard to stay professional and really hard not to cry’.”
But knowing his new mom Elizabeth was giving him all the love and attention he deserves, puts a smile on Brandy’s face.
After spending 160 days at the shelter, this sweet cuddle bug deserves a loving and safe home!
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