If the cat Minou could talk, she would say, “I am so thankful that this wonderful woman on Ohio Creek adopted me.” Now Minou purrs and basks in the sun on the window ledge in Pam Christian’s barn. “I needed a companion for Junior, my 10-year old orange cat, so I looked on the GVAWL website for a cat,” Pam explains. After email exchanges and looking at several cats with Intake Coordinator, Cheryl Dandel, Pam decided on a dark grey female cat named Minou. “I knew she was an older cat and very shy,” Pam said. Historically, older cats are harder to adopt out than kittens and younger cats. Minou, for example, had been in GVAWL care for 18 months waiting for a home. Minou came to the Animal Welfare League with less than optimal odds for adoption success: she was an older cat, at eight years of age, and she was not very social. GVAWL volunteers spent time with Minou to help her become more socialized, which helped some, but she still had a hard time with new people. On the positive side, Minou had been spayed by her previous owners. In spite of her age and shyness, upon meeting Minou, Pam knew she was a good match for her situation and for Junior.

Pam admits that it was only recently in her life that she owned cats. She finds them fascinating, and now declares herself a cat lover. Pam worries about her cats in the large open landscape that surrounds her home, and prefers the cats to be safe in her barn at night. Hence, she feeds them a special treat of wet cat food in the evening, training them to come into the barn at night. Pam rings a cow bell towards dusk, and Junior and Minou come running, hopping through the cat door for their tasty dinner, where Pam locks the barn door behind them. “It really works,” she laughs. Pam finds herself visiting her barn more often, and enjoys watching Minou becoming more comfortable with Pam and her family. “Minou is becoming less shy and more comfortable every day.” “There is a special compassion from people who choose to adopt an older cat,” observes Cheryl, “and mature cats can be an excellent choice for adoption.” Minou and Pam would agree.