# Newest Member of the Family - Pia



## Mister Baddabing (Oct 7, 2020)

My wife and I are volunteer fosters for a local no-kill shelter. Pia came to us to be re-homed through a rather sad situation, her owner was entering a care facility. Pia became what the shelter jokingly calls a "failed foster". When you begin as foster then decide to keep them!

What we know about Pia is that she is 4 years old and supposedly has a bit of Persian (has the coat but not the flat face) and possibly some Ragdoll or Norwegian as she is a big girl - 16 pounds and not an ounce of fat! She has huge paws with adorable toe tufts. And for such a large cat she has the most kitten like meows and cries which she uses quite often as she is very talkative. Pia previously lived with other cats as well as dogs. She has acclimated to our GSD Kimba with no issues, its as if they were raised together. Her relationship with our two cats is still in flux. At times they seems to get along fine but there are the occasional hiss and spit sessions but no real fighting or biting.

Pia has been with us for 8 weeks now and she is the sweetest, gentlest cat we have run across in 30+ years of cat ownership. Well that is the story according to my wife to whom Pia has bonded. Pia has never been around men, her owner was a woman who lived alone, so I am still working on gaining her trust. She has started to let me pet her so hopefully in time I can get some of the love she is showering on my wife. But with my wife, Pia is her shadow. Pia follows her around everywhere and sleeps curled under her arm at night.


Long story short, she has found a forever home with us.


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## eldercat (Jul 3, 2015)

Great intro! Beautiful big cat.  Yes, you will win her friendship eventually, but she may always be your wife's cat. Good for you, taking a rescue. Her story is one that worries all who keep & love pets... what happens if _we_ fail somehow????


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## Mister Baddabing (Oct 7, 2020)

Thanks. I've found a way to start bonding with her. I laid on the floor with a variety of cat toys and started playing with them. Her curiosity got the better of her and next thing you know we are batting jingle balls and somersaulting after feathers. She is amazingly athletic, leaping 4 -5 feet into the air to catch toys in mid-air. The hunting instinct is strong in her, good thing she is an indoor cat or she would decimate the local bird population.


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## eldercat (Jul 3, 2015)

Well done, figuring that out.


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## Sharon2665 (Nov 20, 2012)

One of our cats liked my husband but was always my shadow and laid on my lap only for years. I think she was 8 yrs old. I had gone overseas on my third mission trip when I got a text from my husband with a picture attached of MY cat sleeping on his lap! Hilarious. When I got home he’d jump on my husbands lap and then look at me and run over to mine like he was afraid he’d hurt my feelings. I would give him lots of praise when he sat on my husbands lap to encourage him. Now he always goes and sees my husband first for awhile and then comes and sits with me. He’s gotta spread the love! Yours will come around to. Just don’t force her into anything. Sounds like she’s already warming up. What a trauma for the poor kitty to lose her owner and home all at once.


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## eldercat (Jul 3, 2015)

This is the same story my daughter told - during her long trip away, the cat made friends with her hubs.


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