Stevie

Like people, cats can have trauma. Like people, cats can be brave and resilient and get past that trauma. Unlike people, cats can’t tell us what frightens them or why. But sometimes we can guess.

Stevie Nicks came to Protectors of Animals back in 2022 when she was an older kitten. She was surrendered because her people had too many cats. Perhaps because of the number of cats, Stevie had limited involvement with or trust in people. While in her condo, she hissed and spit and flinched away from us.

And then one day she escaped from her condo. She hid at first. But then she  approached us. She sought petting. She curled up next to volunteers. It turned out that Stevie wasn’t afraid of people- she was afraid of confinement. We had never heard of a cat with claustrophobia, but we didn’t know all of the details of her history. Maybe she had been confined for too long in a small space. Maybe she had been held too tightly. Whatever the reason, she let us know what scared her and we worked with that. We did not try to pick her up. We did not try to put her in her condo overnight. We gave her food and water on the floor where she felt safe. We let her approach us for affection and freely gave it when she did. Stevie blossomed.

And Stevie was adopted. Her people loved her but unfortunately their cat did not. Instead of letting us know that things were not working out, her people solved the issue by keeping Stevie in one room. For three years. (No unkind comments please. While we think this was the wrong decision for Stevie, her people, and their cat, we know they did it because they loved Stevie and felt helpless). They did their best to make things work. But because of circumstances outside of their control, they had to return Stevie last September.

As you can imagine, being kept in one room for three years and then brought back to a shelter and confined to a condo was not easy for Stevie. Stevie let us know in no uncertain terms that she was not happy. If she remembered us at all, she did not trust us. We tried anti-anxiety medication. She didn’t like it and often refused to take it. We tried letting her out on the floor for a few hours. Stevie loved that and was both affectionate and playful when out. But while she liked some cats, she did not like all of them and not all of them liked her. So she could not be out all of the time, and Stevie didn’t like being returned to her condo. Being picked up terrified her, and she is very smart, so every trick worked exactly once. We didn’t want to increase her trauma, and it sometimes felt like this was exactly what we were doing. But  Stevie wasn’t close to giving up, so we didn’t give up on her.

And then things started to click for her. Stevie started to trust a few of our volunteers. We stopped the medication and started letting her out more and more. Stevie started to voluntarily go into her condo for snacks and to sleep. She started to relax.

Now we are not saying that Stevie has forgotten the things that scare her. Trauma doesn’t work that way. We still can’t pick her up. She may always need medication to get her into a carrier.  But she now actively seeks petting. She looks for her favorite volunteers. She plays happily and naps in her favorite beds. Stevie isn’t healed but she is healing. And we think that at four years old, Stevie Nicks is ready to finally go home. For forever this time.