Adopting a Junkyard Cat

**Edit- here is a short video we made about adopting Emmylou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u41wfwi8m4**

It is no secret to those of you who know us even just a little bit that we are animal lovers, and our family has grown by three cats in the past 10 months. I'd like to take this post to highlight our cat Emmy, who was adopted through a private rescuer when Emmy was living in an outdoor colony of cats in a junkyard. This junkyard is closing down at the end of this year, and there are still 30 cats who are living there that need to find forever homes before the junkyard is shut down. It is my hope that you might read about our experience with Emmy and feel compelled to help the rest of her colony in whatever way you can. (Visit this link for more information.)

We adopted Emmylou in May of this year. We needed a companion cat for our other cat Oscar, and when we heard Emmy's story we just knew she should come and be with us. A junkyard is a rough place for a cat to live, and unfortunately Emmy had to have an eye removed because of the conditions there. Today she is perfectly healthy and doesn't seem to even notice her missing eye. Knowing how much she needed a loving home, we were just happy to take her in and give her a comfortable life, regardless of if she warmed up to us or not. 

The fact that she had been living without human love and companionship for quite a few years meant that she was very shy and skittish, and did not like human attention. 

When Emmy first came to our home, she was very nervous, and we didn't get to see much of her. We tried putting her in my lap, but she just wasn't having it- her claws were out, and she jumped right back down and ran away. At one point she ran into the kitchen trying to get away from us, almost manically, and jumped onto the counter when she realized there was nowhere else to go. We didn't really get to touch her in the first day or two; she stayed hidden behind the couch unless we were sleeping or out of the apartment. We were able to pet her while she was hiding behind the couch, and while this was initially met with hissing and low growls, after a day or two of lots of patience she did start to hesitantly accept a few pats, and even leaned in to our hands, enjoying the attention. We couldn't do this for more than 30 seconds or so, or we'd get swatted and growled at, but just that little bit of progress felt so wonderful! Since this was the only way we could give her attention in those first few days, we made sure to spend that time with her each day to build up her trust.

Hiding behind the couch.

Oscar was very curious about Emmy, and if he couldn't get next to her, he was always laying somewhere near her hiding spot. Anytime she saw him, she growled, and if he got too close she swatted at him, but he was relentless in trying to become her friend, and we think that he played an integral role in her opening up being part of our family.

Six days after Emmy joined our family, I came home from work to find her sitting on the couch. She did run off and hide as soon as we made eye contact, but that was the very first time I had seen her at all outside of any of her hiding spots. Another baby step!

After two weeks she began leaving her hiding place while we were home, but she was always slinking around, and if we looked at her too long, or made a sudden movement, she'd bolt back to behind the couch.

Four weeks in was when she really started to open up to Oscar, and in turn that meant that she was in the open around us a lot more. I remember one night the two of them playfully wrestled for at least 5 minutes while I was in the same room. It was so wonderful to see that progress.

Between 4-6 weeks with us, she was out and around us a lot more, playing with Oscar, and finally playing with toys, shoelaces, and whatever she could find. Her personality really started showing through at that point. We still needed to be careful to not full-on approach her or make fast or sudden movements, but she was definitely comfortable in her environment.

#Emmythecat being a cat, and #Oscarthecat being ... his version of a cat. Emmy's become so comfortable with us in the last two weeks particularly. Can't even tell she came from years of living on her own! #oneeyedwonder #catsofinstagram #adoptdontshop #smartgirlsadopt

A video posted by @rkozeluh on Jun 30, 2015 at 7:25am PDT

Just over two months in, I was able to pick her up and set her in my lap one night. She was incredibly hesitant and her body was pretty stiff, but she stayed there and let me pet her for a minute or so. It just made me so happy to have watched that transformation from being so skittish, incredibly independent and un-trusting, to trusting me enough to be placed in my lap and pet. It was definitely worth the time and effort while she was getting used to us.

Recently we found a kitten, Toni, and brought her into our little cat family. Emmy went backwards for a bit - she hissed and growled a lot at Toni, and she wouldn't even let me near her for two full days. But after that, she actually started to show herself around our home even more than we'd gotten used to when it was just her and Oscar. She was very curious about Toni and made a point to always be in the same room as her, which was typically the same room as us. She and Toni became friends after only two weeks, and now our apartment has an entirely different feel - all three cats are in the same room as us almost all the time. Emmy has even begun sleeping at the foot of our bed at night, and I woke up the other night to find her laying completely across my legs, very contentedly sleeping! 

Emmy has been full of surprises, and while she still has her quirks, and doesn't always want to be paid attention to, she has grown by leaps and bounds in the past six months. She is very spunky and full of personality. One of my favorite things about her is her love of shoes. If we leave shoes out, she'll find them and roll on them, play with them, lick them, sleep on them, or stick her whole face in them. And the smellier the better - my running shoes seem to be her favorite!

It feels so good to see how all of her baby steps have led Emmy to become a comfortable, relaxed cat in her forever home. She is still very shy, and we still need to be gentle and patient with her when we are offering her attention, but that is just part of who she is, and we are happy to have given her an environment where she can grow at her own pace.

Perhaps not every cat who comes from a junkyard or other outdoor community will open up even to the point that Emmy has, but that should not be the purpose of adopting these cats. We've learned that you need to be willing to give them all the time they need, providing for their needs and giving them the best life possible, even if you feel like you're getting minimal appreciation in return. The rest of Emmy's life will likely be a continual growing process, and we are looking forward to the surprises she continues to bring to our family. It has been a lot of fun to watch her grow, and we know that there are plenty of other cats that are coming from similar situations who need to find their forever home with a patient, accepting family. We are hopeful that Emmy's story can lead to more of these cats to be adopted!

You can learn more about the cats at the junkyard in the following video, and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about how you can help. To see pictures and general descriptions of all the cats, visit this photo album.

Please also stay tuned for a video about Emmy and the journey she's been on since joining our family. Adopting these cats is not necessarily like adopting a cat that is already used to human attention, but it is an incredibly rewarding experience!