Cats are being dumped on the street for a myriad of various senseless reasons but what they all have in common are irresponsible owners who are not ready for a lifelong commitment to their pet. Being born as a purebred is no guarantee for a
happy, fulfilled and long life in a nice forever home; although it comes as a surprise to some people, even those supposedly "more valuable" kitties which have been paid a high price for can get abandoned and wind up on the street just like any other cat.
All alone out there, they usually don’t stand much of a chance as they are generally more delicate, naive and less able to fend for themselves than “ordinary” moggies. Some breeds like Persians and Siamese are paying the price
for their own popularity as over-breeding makes them almost worthless from the financial point of view, while both ignorance and imprudence of their owners do the rest. When the kitten's cuteness fades away, a fully grown kitty becomes a burden to
those pet owners who have gotten their pets for the totally wrong reasons and the door to disaster is standing wide open. More and more frequently, cat lovers who are rescuing strays are finding dirty, sad balls of matted fur and filth which hide beautiful Persians or starving,
mud colored fragile kitties with sparkling, blue Siamese eyes set in their dark bony faces…
Shalimar is one of these miserable kitties who had the misfortune of being in the hands of some very wrong, heartless people. I have no idea
how he lived while he had a home, which he must have had at one point but I found him maybe a week ago on the side of the road, near a garbage container. He had probably spent months scavenging for food and living on the street before we met and he clearly
wasn’t successful in adapting to the street life – he is frighteningly skinny, his sides and haunches are all sunken in and his head looks big for his body. He certainly wasn’t born to a stray cat and it’s scarcely possible that he somehow got lost so I
am more prone to thinking that he was intentionally dumped; had his owners wanted and tried to find him they would have, a long time before he'd gotten to this horrible state.
He is a Seal Point Siamese with striking sapphire blue eyes, a
pretty dark chocolate mask and points, and a loud and distinctive Siamese meow. Incredibly cuddly and affectionate and probably young, he’s latched onto me and moved into my bed the minute he was let out of his cage where he had been kept over the first couple of
days. So typical for a devoted Siamese! His previous owners didn’t neuter him, which is not a surprise, but I am not sure if he would be able to endure a total anesthesia just yet; he needs to gain some strength and weight back before he's ready for his
neutering surgery. His appetite is voracious, he loves everyone and gets along perfectly with other cats, he's just as sweet as can be.
I doubt I’ll ever know all of the parts of his story, like where he came from, who he lived with, what he
could’ve done so wrong to be chucked out into the street and so on... but it doesn’t really matter now, as the new chapter of his life is just beginning. This year is coming to an end and the holidays are just around the corner, but I’d say that for Shalimar, the celebration has already begun. He has been given the biggest and most precious gift that could be imagined – a whole new life and world of affection, care, safety and love.
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