If you're here, you've probably got here because you read that Tink is available for Adoption. Not our Tink, though: Sue's Tink!
This blog post is all about Tink's history with Sue and Ebony, to help you understand why she's being offered for adoption.
Tink's Story - By Sue
My story with Tink started back in September 2011, when I went on holiday to Cyprus to attend a friend’s wedding. I had booked a 2 week break to relax, get some sun, and enjoy the celebrations. My intention was certainly not to come back with a cat!
However, I arrived at my apartment to find a little tabby & white cat, tap-dancing on the patio doors demanding to be let in. She was living within a colony of cats who hung around the holiday complex. Clearly starving, thirsty and desperate to get out of the hot sun, I let her in and she never left. She melted my heart over those 2 weeks, and I just couldn’t walk away…..
The whole process of bringing her back involved me finding her some temporary residence to stay in, whilst I flew home and organised for her to be brought over.
Once the EU quarantine laws were dropped in January 2012, it meant that Tink could come over without having to stay in quarantine for 6 months. The shelter home I found for her to stay in were happy to take her in as long as I paid her boarding fees & food costs.
Unfortunately, what I know now, but didn’t then, was that she was kept in a pen with quite a lot of other cats and their feeding wasn’t monitored – they just stuck large bowls of dried food in the pen and it was every cat for themselves.
So she went from very skinny Tink to a very overweight Tink in just a few months. She was probably pushing her way to the front and eating as much as she possibly could! And being the confident cat she is, it seemed she got most of the food, as she ballooned to quite a size whilst staying in the shelter.
So you can imagine my complete surprise and slight shock when I finally went to collect her from the Animal Rescue Centre at Heathrow in February 2012 – I wasn’t sure if it was even the same cat!
Tink came to live with me and my other cat Ebony. Things were tricky to begin with, but I was sure that as long as I managed their integration well, and made sure they both had enough resources and didn’t have to share things too much, then it would be ok.
However, Ebony was not and never will be a sociable cat; something I’ve since learned over the years, and thus the problem would never go away for her – the problem being “Tink”.
I have persevered with both of them, even moving to a different house with a bigger garden in a more rural area, thinking this might help them if they had their own territory outside too. But alas, things only got worse.
The main problem was Ebony seeking out Tink to chase her out of the house – she just doesn’t want her here. This happens daily, morning and night. I work full time, so obviously I don’t see what goes on whilst I’m out, but the negativity between them certainly seems to increase when I’m home. This is probably due to either food being involved, or because they are generally more active when I’m at home, so it then becomes competitive and quite tense.
I find it very difficult to play with one cat whilst the other is in the room or close by, as it just creates more tension. Most of the time, Tink dominates any game you are playing, so this immediately makes Ebony feel on edge and she will walk away and hide. But playtime is really the only time that Tink seems to get the upper-hand. Any other time, she’s constantly on high alert, scuttling through the house trying to get from one room to another before Ebony sees her. You can even see poor Tink recoil, cringing as she walks past Ebony, as if she’s waiting for that inevitable swipe or hiss from her!
Although Tink seems to recover pretty quickly from any physical challenges by Ebony or from being chased, it’s not nice to see it happening to her every day. She really is a tough little cat and seems to take it all in her stride, but it’s not healthy and not fair on either of them.
I want both my cats to be happy and be able to relax at home and enjoy their surroundings. And if that means I need to separate them, then I have to accept that now. I’m doing this because I love them, and I cannot bear to see them unhappy any longer. I tend to liken the situation to the same if it were a person living with someone you just didn’t like, or didn’t feel comfortable being around – you wouldn’t stay living with that person if you didn’t have to, right?
So the time has come to find my gorgeous little girl a new home, with people who will adore her as much as I do. She has brought so much happiness to me. I spent all of my remaining savings I had to get her over here, and I do not regret that for one moment. And even if my time with her is only for these 6 years, but I saved her from an unknown fate in Cyprus, then I am still happy that she came into my life - although incredibly sad to now let her go.
My decision to rehome Tink is not a decision that’s been easy to come by – in fact it’s taken me a year to come to terms with. And Tink being “the chosen one” is purely down to their personalities and ability to cope with life. Tink is more adaptable and copes with things a lot better than Ebony. She’s been on a 4 hour flight from Cyprus and lived with Ebony for 6 years, so she’s one tough little cookie!
She is and has been the bravest little cat and the most loving. She holds a very special place in my heart, not only because she’s been flown over from another country and took all of that in her stride, but because of all the cute & funny little things she does every day that make me laugh or make my heart melt. She has coped with what life has thrown at her incredibly well, in her 9 little years; from roaming the streets of Paphos & just surviving, to then moving into a home with me & Ebony and everything that went with that. She has grown into such a wonderful loving little kitty. She always has the happiest little face on her and loves some fuss, cuddles, playtime, oh and fresh prawns if you’re handing them out?! ☺ (she gets the bare minimum of these once in a while, otherwise it upsets her little tum).
Tink loves life and I think she will flourish even more given the chance of being the No.1 cat and the only kitty in residence.
Thank you for reading,
Sue x
