Jali Henry & fosters: Dotty & Daisy
Jali & Daisy
When I moved to Williamsburg in May of last year, I started seeing a lot of stray cats and began feeding them. I named them all and got so excited to see them every day—they are all feral and don’t let me pet them, but they recognize me and started visiting my apartment more and more!
I was pretty lonely because all of my friends had moved away due to the pandemic so I thought maybe it would be a good idea to find a rescue to volunteer with—I thought it would be a good way to make friends! I ended up volunteering with PuppyKittyNYC and every Sunday I go to their rescue space to feed cats and clean up. I haven’t technically made any real-life friends from volunteering/fostering but I have made a lot of virtual friends and expanded my network of “cat people”. And there’s never a lonely day when you have kitties by your side.
After I volunteered with PKNYC I decided I wanted to do more! I had already trapped a cat and got her to the vet because she was super sick. It was so awesome to feel like I was making a difference. So I decided to foster my first kitten, Helene (through LittleWanderersNYC). She was the most rambunctious kitty who was so full of personality. She had a hernia, so I fostered her until she was big enough to get surgery, and once she was spayed and hernia free, I was able to take her to her new parents who were adopting her. She was the best foster kitten to start with—completely social and full of personality.
My next foster kittens were rescued by Mary at Gotham Critters, another local rescue group. She had posted on Instagram saying she needed a socializer for a 4-month-old kitten (Dotty) that she had just gotten off the streets. He was a feisty boy who was not used to humans and had bitten Mary so badly that she got a blood infection. Mary told me that she had someone who was willing to teach me how to socialize the kitten so that he would have the best shot at being a wonderful, loving, lap cat. Lap cats are highly adoptable and that is the goal for socialization. At first, it was just Dotty, but I was excited when she told me she had caught Dotty’s sibling, sweet Daisy—of course, I would take them both!
After I got Daisy and Dotty, every week for about 5 weeks I would sit for an hour or 2 with a professional socializer on Facetime and she would guide me through exercises to socialize (tame) Dotty. Daisy was comfortable around humans despite having spent her first 4 months of life on the street, so I was able to use Daisy as an example to show Dotty that humans are actually really cool.
He really disliked me at first, and once he bit me quite badly and I had to go to CityMD for antibiotics. But each week we progressed and now he is a lovable cuddly lap kitty! It’s so hard to believe that he ever was so scared of me that he bit me— he’s truly a completely different kitty. I love him so much and our bond is strong since we both worked so hard to get to this point. All the work was worth it because he doesn’t have to live on the street ever again and will never wonder when he will get his next meal. Ugh, I love this guy so much.
A typical day at my apartment includes waking up to the kittens cuddling my feet at the foot of the bed. Once Daisy sees my eyes open, she comes over and makes biscuits on my chest! And then we get up and have breakfast—they LOVE food and Dotty loves playing in his water bowl. Then I sit down at my desk and they take their after-breakfast bath right next to my laptop on top of my desk. Around lunchtime, we play for a bit and I feed them another snack. Then back to work and they sleep on my desk (why do humans have to work so much they wonder!!). At the end of the workday we play some more, and they follow me around as I do my chores and we usually have a dance party in the kitchen—they love to watch me dance (humans are such interesting creatures). And then towards the end of the day, they get cuddly again and we watch TV together and cuddle until we fall asleep.
Socializing was a great experience. You do have to put in work and it’s definitely not all cuddles and rainbows, but without socializers, these cats are not fit for adoption and face the high possibility of being returned to the street. Knowing that because I am willing and able to take a cat who is not yet adoptable and work hard to socialize them and nurture them into becoming a loving pet is just…. It’s just the best feeling! Why am I tearing up?
I definitely plan to continue taking on socialization cases and hope that someday I am known as a cat magician who is able to socialize cats in record time. I am currently working on applying to Petfinder and Adoptapet so that I can find the best possible adopter to bring these two kittens into their family. If anyone is interested in adopting these kittens I would love to hear from them!
Jali & Dotty
Jali (Jaylee) Henry is 28 years old and from Portland, Oregon. She enjoys the finer things in life—good food, good wine, and naughty kittens. She works in recruiting and spends COVID pastime doing crafts, working out, and playing with foster kittens.