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Welcome to the world of “Tweenies”

Most rescue groups have a dual mission these days. We try to control the cat over population by utilizing the Trap, Neuter and Return method of spay/neuter, and we deal with the huge amount of discarded cats by trying to find homes for them. Many times there is a clear line between the two kinds of cats... one is feral, a wild decedent of a domesticated cat and the other is friendly, only frightened and wild during trapping and vetting, and then recognized as a friendly kitty who just went a little wild to ensure survival after being abandoned by some unfeeling human. But in reality there is a third kind of cat. They are what I call Tweenies. Now in the world of people, Tweenies is a term to describe young preteen girls. With kitties, the age is not what counts, it is whether they can cross the line, by intense socialization, between true feral and domestication. This is what I try to do. I also encourage others to try it too, but you must have much patience and persistence. Some of the most ferocious cats, the one’s you are afraid to even look too closely at, have the ability and desire to become acceptable house cats. They may not enjoy any company except for you and your family, but any life lived in a home is better than a life lived outside in the often harsh and dangerous world.

Every Cat Counts has some of these kitty’s for adoption. Cats like Chrystal who was born in a house with over a hundred other cats. She was so feral that if you even cast your eyes in her direction it caused her to climb the walls...literally! Two and a half years later Chrystal is relatively tame, can be petted and held,( not too tightly), and when she has had enough attention you had best let her down. She has to be treated differently than a true domesticated cat in the sense that she is frightened easily, but I have just as many scars from “tame” kitties than as not. She is going to be shown to a woman who fell in love with her picture on the website next week and this wonderful lady and her husband are willing to take the days, weeks or even months it may take until Chrystal bonds with them as she has with me.

That is all it takes. A willingness to be patient with your very own Tweenie until bonding happens. And with the kitties on this site that are Tweenies, it will happen. If they bond with me. then more times than not, they will bond with you. They just need the chance to realize that you will not hurt them, you are the food machine, and that you will love them despite their small imperfections.
Tweenies... a challenge and a good thing