A journey that lasted 10,000 kilometres and defied all odds of survival is about to come to an end for one tough kitty.
Journey — that’s the name of the cat — was discovered last year as a stowaway in a shipping container in Prince George.
She’d been there for three-and-a-half weeks with no food and no water, after somehow getting trapped in the container in the port city of Shenzhen, China.
“She came out very sick and very emaciated and in need a lot of emergency care,” said Karen van Haaften, senior manager of behaviour and welfare with the BC SPCA.
“Who knew you could survive three-and-a-half weeks without food and water as a cat? She’s a survivor.”
Journey then spent nearly a year in care with the SPCA, including a month in a veterinary hospital, recovering from starvation and liver problems and getting tested to clear her of any foreign infections.
After that, it was six months in an SPCA socialization program.
“She would just hide constantly in our shelter, she would be up in the rafters or hiding under furniture, just a really strong state of fear any time people are around,” said van Haaften.
For the last few months, van Haaften has been fostering Journey, and says the globetrotting kitty has come a long way when it comes to being comfortable humans.
Van Haaften said Journey now loves to play, and will let people pet her — in exchange for a treat.
She said Journey is now finally ready to be adopted, but only to the right home. She doesn’t like other cats, and she’ll need a patient owner who is ready to put in “a bit of extra work” when it comes to the human touch.
Van Haaften warns that Journey may never be the type to seek out affection.
“We know that she can have good welfare with people, so we think she’s ready to go into a home where they can continue to work with her on her touch tolerance,” said van Haften.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to give a good home to this Shenzhen stowaway, you can contact the BC SPCA here.
Comments